Budget car-maker Dacia today unveiled a radical 21st century electric 'people's car' that could be in showrooms priced from under £12,000 within two years.
Called 'Hipster', the ultra-compact cube-shaped supermini measuring just three metres long is still big enough to carry four full-sized passengers - and can even carry a washing machine in the flexible boot.
Powered by an electric motor and with a range expected to be around 100 miles, it aims to revolutionise the electric car-market with an affordable EV in the same way that previous 'people's cars' such as the Volkswagen Beetle and Citroen 2CV did in the 20th century.
Dacia, the Romanian-based 'value for money' arm of France's Renault Group said Hipster would be an agile, practical, and economical car and 'a companion for everyday life.'
At it would also be the cheapest EV on the market.
Unlike Citroen's current electric Ami costing from £7,696 on the road - which is technically a quadricycle - the Hipster will be a full car and designed for city, suburban and country roads.
The boxy, cube-shaped and robust Hipster is inspired by the small lightweight K-Cars (or Kei Cars) of Japan and is designed to look like 'a safe on wheels'.
It was unveiled in a former airship hangar on the outskirts of Paris near Versailles as a 'concept' car, but Dacia has a strong tradition of quickly turning its prototype vehicles into production models for showrooms and driveways.
Weighing less than 800kg, it will be powered by a small battery and an electric motor. The exact specification will be determined by new EU rules.
It has a high riding position and there is a glass roof above the driver and passenger to improve visibility and allow traffic lights to be seen. There is a space in the passenger well for transporting packages.
It is aimed as a city car for young people, for commuting and for retired people. It will accommodate child seats.
Dacia executives said it would have enough range to cover a working week with two charges.
Dacia CEO Katrin Adt hinted broadly that a production model would indeed follow, noting: 'Within Renault Group we have all the necessary assets to make it happen.
'So stay tuned. The future of Dacia is full of surprises.'
Engineers have employed a form of Dr Who-style 'Tardis technology' to make the car look bigger on the inside than on the outside, noting: 'The interior of the Dacia Hipster has been optimised to offer exceptional space given its compact exterior dimensions'.
The boxy new Hipster measures 1.53m high and 1,55m wide and comes with four 'proper' seats and a boot that via folding rear seats can be adjusted from 70 litres to 500 litres - a seven-fold increase - though this will reduce passenger seating to only the two at the front.
The tailgate covers the entire width of the vehicle and opens in two parts to provide practical access to the boot.
Dacia chiefs said that as a demonstration of its practicality, the Hipster had been specifically designed to carry a boxed up washing machine, enabling owners to transport a new one from a store to their home, an existing one between houses, or an old one to the recycling dump.
The car-maker believes an electric charge range of 100 miles would suffice for the 'real needs of customers' because polls in France had shown that 94 per cent of motorists travel fewer than 24 miles in a day.
It will be smaller, cheaper and 20 per cent lighter than Dacia's electric five-seater Spring with a range of 140 miles and priced from £14,995 which has held the title of the UK's most affordable electric car.
With Hipster prices expected to start from under £12,000, Dacia said it was 'targeting a wide audience that currently cannot find anything to suit their budget.'
It noted: 'The average price of new vehicles in Europe rose by 77 per cent between 2010 and 2024, far outpacing household purchasing power.'
The super-compact Hipster is set to follow in the wake of a new A-segment Renault Twingo-sized hatchback which Dacia is to put on sale next year.
The term 'hipster' has its roots in the modern sub-culture of often well-heeled and privileged modern hippies who espouse a form of consumerism associated with 'authenticity' - such as craft beers, organic food, and ethically-sourced and 'curated' products - though the term goes back to the 1940s.
Dacia said that with the new Hipster it had taken on the challenge 'to reinvent the people's car'.
It was 'rethinking' what customers want from an electric car, noting : 'Since the beginning of the 21st century, the automotive industry has evolved, particularly under the impact of regulation and electrification, towards cars that are ever larger, ever heavier, ever more sophisticated and therefore, ever more expensive.'
The new Hipster 'breaks with automotive conventions and embodies Dacia's vision of making electric mobility accessible to all' with 'four real seats and a usable boot in a vehicle that is only three metres in length.'
It offers '100 per cent electric mobility tailored to everyday needs while aiming 'to halve the carbon footprint over the entire life cycle of the vehicle compared with the best electric vehicles currently available today'.
The company said: 'Dacia Hipster Concept is just as at home in the city as it is on country roads or suburban routes. It is designed for everyday life, offering sufficient range for daily journeys with the need to recharge just twice a week.'
Regarding its boxy, cube-like design, Dacia said: 'In the history of the automotive industry, the most successful and popular cars have all been distinguished by innovative design.
'The Dacia Hipster Concept stands out for being very simple and robust. It's a block sitting firmly on four wheels at the four corners, with no overhang at either the front or rear.'
The horizontal front end and incorporates sleek headlights that give Hipster 'a serious yet friendly look'.
The full-width tailgate at the back opens in two parts to provide practical access to the boot, while the innovative rear lights behind the tailgate window do not require their own glass panel.
Hipster is also designed with a single body colour and only three painted parts - the front of the car and the side door entry.
Side protection is provided by a material created by Dacia engineers and derived from recycled plastic called 'Starkle' to give a robust outdoors look.
The exterior door handle has been replaced by a practical, lighter and cheaper strap - though this, along with sliding windows, is unlikely to continue to the production model.
Dacia said: 'The interior has been optimised to offer exceptional space given its compact exterior dimensions'.
It noted: 'The interior closely follows the very cubic shapes of the bodywork, particularly with very vertical windows and windscreen, to make the most of the available space.
'The glazed front section of the roof provides light, contributing to the feeling of space. To reduce costs and weight, the side windows are sliding.'
Dacia said: 'Four adults can sit comfortably inside. The seating position for the driver and front passenger is identical to that of the Dacia Sandero, ensuring comfort and a safe view of the road.
'Access to the rear seats is facilitated by the wide door opening and the front passenger seat that tilts forward.'
Seat and headrest design has been simplified with a visible frame combined with a mesh fabric to combine comfort and user-friendliness with weight and cost reduction.
The front seats are merged to form a simple and welcoming bench seat which it describes as 'another nod to the iconic popular cars of the past.'
Eleven anchor points across the dashboard, door panels and boot interior take special Dacia clip-on accessories such as cup holders, armrests, and ceiling lights.
A smartphone docking station enables seamless connectivity between the device and the vehicle.
The phone also becomes a 'digital key' to unlock and start the car, as well as a multimedia screen for navigation and audio via a portable Bluetooth speaker.
The dashboard incorporates two airbags for the driver and passenger.
Romain Gauvin, head of advanced design at Dacia said: 'Our ambition in reinventing the true people's car was to give it a distinctive and memorable design. A car that can be sketched in three strokes of a pencil.'
Dacia advanced product manager Stéphanie Chiron said: 'Dacia Hipster Concept has everything you could want in an everyday vehicle.'
The unveiling coincides with extensive upgrades of the existing Dacia line-up including the Spring, Sandero, Sandero Stepway, and Jogger models.
