Dacia might just be the first European car maker to put forward a proposal for the EU’s new “small-car initiative”. Dreamed up by the EU in order to placate car makers worried about the impending 2035 cut-off for combustion-powered cars, the small-car initiative hasn’t yet been set in stone, but has the potential to be come a European equivalent to Japan’s famous “Kei car” rules, which promote small, affordable, ultra-frugal cars.
The Dacia Hipster concept looks every inch the Euro Kei car. It’s small, square, stubby and, in the best tradition of Kei cars, absurdly cute. It’s still a concept, but Dacia’s new boss, Katrin Adt, is dropping big hints that something similar could be headed for production.
Right now, Dacia wouldn’t actually be able to build the Hipster as-is, because it would slip between two different sets of regulations – those for small “quadricycles” and those for proper M1 passenger cars. Build it as a quadricycle and its performance and weight would have to be restricted. Build it as an M1, and the cost of adding the safety kit that current legislation demands would push the price up to the level of the current Dacia Spring.
The Hipster – powered by batteries for a putative 150km range, rather than by the sourdough
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