Dacia Hipster: Tiny EV concept strips motoring back to the basics

The Dacia Hipster is designed not only to be affordable, but also an antidote to cars seemingly growing ever larger, more complex and expensive.

Measuring 3.0 metres long, 1.53 metres tall, and 1.55 metres wide, the Hipster is roughly half-a-metre longer than the two-seat Smart ForTwo, but around the same size as the four-seat Toyota iQ. The Dacia is 10mm narrower than both vehicles, though.

In order to make the most of its small footprint, the Hipster has flat sides, a box-like body, wheels pushed out to the corners, virtually no overhang, and space- and weight-saving sliding glass windows.

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The Hipster seats four people with a bench seat up front, which features a fabric mesh backrest. Dacia says the Hipster’s seating position is similar to the Sandero hatchback.

Interestingly, the rear bench has headrests that swing away and exposed plastic towards the lower portion of the backrest that enables it to fold completely flat.

Boot space is just 70L with the rear seats up, but grows to 500L when the rear pew is folded down. Instead of a traditional hatch, access to the boot is via a two-piece design, where the rear glass lifts up and the tailgate folds down.

Dacia has not provided any details about the Hipster’s drivetrain, including whether it drives the front or rear wheels. No word too on the car’s battery pack, except that it has been designed to have “sufficient range for daily journeys with the need to recharge just twice a week”.

According to Dacia, 94 per cent of French motorists drive less than 40km per day. That likely means the Hipster has a small battery with around 150km of range.

A key focus of the Hipster’s design is reducing the amount of material needed to produce the car, as well as minimising weight. For example, the tail-lights are positioned behind the rear windscreen so they don’t require their own ‘glass’ cover, and a strap replaces a traditional exterior door handle.

The Hipster concept is designed for just one body colour, and features only three painted elements: the front, and the doors. The bumpers and wheel arches are made from Starkle, a material consisting mainly of recycled plastic, with the bumpers dyed to match the body colour.

Some of the Hipster’s weight saving features are also practical, including the unadorned dashboard that doubles up as a series of storage areas. Although there’s a digital instrumentation display, a smartphone holder replaces the modern infotainment system. All up, the Hipster is said to weigh 20 per cent less than the Dacia Spring EV.

It remains to be seen whether Dacia can bring the Hipster to market, and how low its price can go. The Hipster will likely only make it to production if the EU is able to create the mooted ‘E-car’ category, which would loosen safety regulations for tiny, likely electric, vehicles made in Europe.

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