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Dacia's Wild-Looking Ultracompact Hipster EV Concept

"A car that can be sketched in three strokes of a pencil"

By Rain Noe - October 16, 2025

in Cars

I can't decide if this is the spiritual successor to the Scion xB or the original Volkswagen bug. This Hipster concept is by Dacia, a Romanian automaker under Renault's umbrella. It's intended to be an affordable EV for the masses, a true people's car.

"This is the most Dacia-esque project that I have ever worked on," says Romain Gauvin, Dacia's Head of Advanced Design and Exterior Design. "It has the same societal impact as the Logan did 20 years ago, and it involves inventing something that does not exist today." (Note: The Dacia Logan is a compact, ultra-affordable family sedan targeted at customers for whom most cars are financially out of reach. It launched in 2004 for just €5,900, or about USD $6,200!)

"Our ambition in reinventing the true people's car was to give it a distinctive and memorable design," Gauvin continues. "A car that can be sketched in three strokes of a pencil."

Aside from developing the unique aesthetic, the designers did everything they could to keep costs as low as possible:

Dacia Hipster Concept is not like other cars. It gets straight to the point, and this is evident from the moment you first see it. The exterior door handle has been replaced by a strap, which is lighter, less expensive and just as practical.

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.

This simplicity is reflected in the design of the front end, which is entirely horizontal and incorporates sleek headlights that give Dacia Hipster Concept a serious yet friendly look.

Priority is given to functionality at the rear. The tailgate covers the entire width of Dacia Hipster Concept and opens in two parts to provide ultra-practical access to the boot.

True to its design-to-cost expertise, Dacia Hipster Concept features an innovative rear light design. Positioned behind the tailgate window, they do not require their own glass panel.

In keeping with this approach, Hipster Concept is designed with a single body colour and only three three painted parts – the front of the car and the side door entry elements.

Dacia has paid particular attention to the design of the seats to combine comfort and user-friendliness with weight and cost reduction. Their design has been simplified with a visible frame combined with a particularly warm technical mesh fabric. The front seats are merged to form a bench seat, a simple and welcoming feature that is another nod to the iconic popular cars of the past.

Finally, the openwork headrests once again help to optimise weight.

Although billed as a concept, the car isn't vaporware; Dacia says they've got a driveable prototype "finished to near-production standards," according to Electrifying.

The projected price, if it were to go into production, is reportedly sub-£15,000 (sub-USD-$20,000)!

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Michael DiTullo

6 months ago

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I love this little thing. It is like a techno Land Rover Defender

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- Sandro Barbosa
  
  Michael DiTullo
  
  6 months ago
  
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  1Z
  
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  * A tiny techno Land Rover Defender.
  First time I saw it I thought the same, but when I looked into it, this is a really small car... Its more for EU market... Over on your side of the pond you would probably just mock it :D
  
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  - Lucas Gruner
    
    Sandro Barbosa
    
    6 months ago
    
    Z
    
    Z
    
    Wow, it did not come across in the article just how small it is. I'm interested in how comfortable the rear seats are, I drove a similarly sized Suzuki Jimny in Iceland for a few days and while I loved that car, the rear seats were not great.
    
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  - Eric Ludlum
    
    Sandro Barbosa
    
    6 months ago
    
    Z
    
    Z
    
    The scale of it really is a bit stunning, but squeeze some 33" mud tires on and there'd be a niche for it in the states.
    
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Roger ak

6 months ago

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As with most concept cars, there is a lot to like about this. The problem is that some of these little details would never make it into production.
The fabric door handles and those real cool light simple seats are just not practical in production.
Over all, I really love this. In particular, that sun roof so close to the windshield makes for a large open feeling in a very small car. Crash worthiness may force its elimination.
Those blocks shapes on the four corners of the roof almost looks like some sort of roof rack is in the works. Very practical as it does not seem to have much interior room.
Shame there is no picture with the doors open. It looks like those dark rectangles below the doors might swing down as a running board/step.

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- Roger ak
  
  Roger ak
  
  6 months ago
  
  Z
  
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  Oh, just two more things.
  The rear seat headrests not attached to rear bench but swinging away is fantastic.
  That tailgate cushion might be better if shaped to flip over and fit to fill the hollow to the left. Storing it there would leave a flat tailgate to ease loading that tiny rear.
  
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