It's Slow, It's Ugly, But It's (really) Cheap

The electric automobile industry seems to be entering a phase of massive democratization, where most manufacturers are scrambling to offer vehicles at prices as attractive as possible. Last week, it was Dacia, a brand already known for its low-cost cars, which pushed the limits of the idea with its Hipstera concept to say the least… confusing.

The first thing that strikes you when you lay eyes on this new concept, announced on October 6, is its decidedly unique look. With its angular silhouette, which looks more like a shipping container on wheels than a typical European car, Dacia immediately set the tone: his Hipster is an ode to sobriety, a true declaration of war on the superfluous.

The cheapest electric car on the market

And this doesn’t just concern the bodywork: the entire vehicle is completely devoid of the slightest embellishment. The door handles have been replaced by straps, the windows are operated by hand like in your grandparents’ 4L, the seats are made of mesh fabric… In short, everything has been done to reduce the size and mass of the vehicle. While Dacia promises four “real places” and a modular trunk from 70 to 500 liters once the rear seat is folded, the whole thing only weighs 800 kg and is only 3 m long, for just over 1.50 m in the other two dimensions — enough to make a Twingo look like a semi-trailer.

But above all, this approach allowed the manufacturer to offer its city car at an ultra-competitive entry Price: only 13 000 €which is even less than the Dacia Spring (€16,900). This would make it the cheapest electric car on the marketif we ignore quadricycles like the Citroën Ami, which do not require a B license.

Suffice to say that this is the number one argument of the Hipster, because at the same time, the Romanian manufacturer had to make numerous concessions under the hood to reduce the bill to this point.

Modest autonomy and speed

The most important is the autonomy, which is quite rickety: the official press release claims a maximum of 150 kilometers, just enough to make 40 kilometer round trips from home to work with two recharges per week.

Dacia Hipster Inside — © Dacia / Renault SAS

The good news is that future owners will not risk exceeding the speed limits. This atypical machine should be limited to a little over 90 km/h, even if some sources, such as Gocar, mention 110 km/h instead. Consequently, it is a vehicle with a more urban vocation; even if it can undoubtedly be of great service to the countryside, it is certainly not the ideal machine for planning a long motorway trip to the other side of France.

In any case, it could be a very interesting vehicle for individuals or even small businesses who favor mobility at lower costs… assuming that it one day arrives on the French market. And this is not yet a guarantee, because the Dacia Hipster will first have to overcome a fairly serious regulatory obstacle.

A standards problem?

Indeed, like all other cars, the Hipster will have to meet the current safety standardsin particular by proving its ability to protect the driver in the event of an accident thanks to crash tests. However, this obligation will undoubtedly be difficult to reconcile with the philosophy of this machine, which relies largely on its minimalist identity: structurally speaking, the equation risks being difficult to resolve.

Furthermore, European regulations on passenger vehicles require manufacturers to integrate a set ofmandatory safety equipmentsuch as an automatic emergency braking system and a driver drowsiness detection device. These features are based on sometimes heavy and expensive components which, again, may have difficulty finding a place on board this featherweight.

Placed end to end, these elements draw the contours of a huge engineering puzzle potentially insoluble. It is no coincidence that Stellantis and Renault launched a lobbying campaign to obtain a relaxation of these rules. See you in 2027, the expected release date of the Dacia Hipster, to see if the Romanian manufacturer will have succeeded in finding a solution.