The Dacia Hustler is an Electric SUV With a Hint of Old Defender Attitude

Dacia has never been especially interested in impressing its neighbours, and the new Hustler proves it hasn’t suddenly started caring. This is Dacia starting with a blank sheet of paper and asking a fairly unfashionable question in 2025: what do people actually need from an electric car?

The answer, according to Dacia, is something small, light, cheap and honest. The Hustler is just three metres long, yet somehow squeezes in four proper seats and a usable boot. In an era where “compact” EVs seem to weigh as much as a small church and cost north of £30k, that alone makes it interesting.

The Hustler is Dacia’s vision of the next people’s car, and it’s deliberately swimming against the tide. While most manufacturers chase ever-bigger batteries, screens and subscription packages, Dacia is chasing weight reduction and cost control. The Hustler is claimed to be 20 per cent lighter than the already basic Dacia Spring, with the end goal of halving its lifecycle carbon footprint compared to today’s four-seat electric cars.

That thinking shows up everywhere you look. The design is almost aggressively simple: a box on wheels, pushed right out to the corners with no overhangs to waste space. It’s the sort of shape you could sketch during a boring meeting, which is exactly the point. Dacia says the most popular cars always had clear, memorable silhouettes, and the Hustler definitely qualifies.

There are also some lovely nods to old-school utility cars. The exposed hinges, strap-style door handles and full-width, drop-down tailgate feel unapologetically functional, and yes, the hinges in particular will remind plenty of people of the original Land Rover Defender. That’s no bad thing. Like the old Defender, nothing here is pretending to be premium, and everything is designed to be robust, cheap to make and easy to use.

The tailgate opens in two sections for easier loading/picnicking, the rear lights are tucked behind the glass to save parts, and much of the exterior cladding is made from Dacia’s recycled Starkle material. There’s only one body colour and just three painted panels, but it’s not laziness — it’s cost discipline.

Inside, the Hustler continues the cost-cutting theme, but it seems to do so without looking cheap. The interior of the cabin is as square as the outside, with vertical glass and a high roof to maximise space. There’s a glass roof panel to brighten things up, sliding side windows to save weight, and a front bench seat that’s a clear throwback to no-nonsense cars of the past. The seats themselves are stripped-back, lightweight and trimmed in technical mesh rather than anything plush - handy on a hot day.

Despite its size, four adults are claimed to fit, and the boot flexes from 70 litres to a surprisingly useful 500 litres with the rear seats folded. The driving position mirrors the Sandero, which should mean it feels, well, normal rather than novelty-sized.

Tech-wise, Dacia sticks to its BYOD philosophy. There’s no built-in infotainment screen — your smartphone becomes the screen, the key and the brain of the car. Audio comes via a portable Bluetooth speaker that clips into the cabin using Dacia’s YouClip system, which also allows owners to add accessories only if they actually want them.

If it ever makes it to production, the Hustler won’t be for everyone, but that is kind of the point. It’s aimed squarely at people priced out of modern EVs who just want something affordable, practical and electrically powered. 

So this, or an £80k EX90?