Dacia Hipster

Concept shows how the budget brand could soon slash the cost of electric motoring On sale TBC Price from £12,000 (est)

- By STEVE HUNTINGFORD [e-mail]

IF YOU'RE ABOUT to buy a lottery ticket, you might want to ask Dacia which numbers to choose, because the new Hipster concept suggests the firm has a crystal ball.

EU president Ursula von der Leyen had barely finished announcing her intention to introduce a new, less regulated category of small electric car to help bring down prices, when Dacia pulled the covers off the Hipster. This three-metre-long electric hatchback would be even cheaper than today's Dacia Spring (which costs from £14,995). But crucially, it could be put into production only if it wasn't subject to all of the current legislation - particularly around active safety.

Given how long it takes to develop a car (even when it's just a concept), work on the Hipster clearly began long before von der Leyen's statement, although several European manufacturers have been calling on the EU to help in this way, including Dacia's parent company, Renault.

But how is the Hipster different from tiny electric vehicles (EVs) such as the Citroën Ami, which are already subject to less stringent rules than conventional cars? Well, those 'light quadricycles' can have no more than two seats, greatly limiting their appeal. Plus, the Ami's official range is just 46 miles.