'Fun, iconic' new Renault 5 E-Tech unveiled

Once upon a time, Renault helped redefine what a small car could be. Can it do it again for EVs?

Renault, it’s probably fair to say, has not given us a huge amount to cheer about in recent years. Or not as a brand anyway. Obviously, as the Renault Group - i.e. the multinational parent company which also owns and operates Alpine and Dacia - it has done some decidedly brilliant things. But where its subsidiaries have thrived thanks to interesting, innovative products, the conventional Renault lineup has mostly calcified into forgettable hybridisation and/or so-so EVs. In a brief canvas of the PH office, no one could recall exactly what the latest Megane looked like. Or tell you what an Arkhana was.

That is unlikely to happen with the new Renault 5 E-Tech electric. Forget the fact that the name has a stupid tail (E-Tech and electric? Really, Renault?) because absolutely everyone is just going to call it the Renault 5 - and clearly that’s important because by summoning up one of its biggest and most successful nameplates ever, the manufacturer is proposing that it has built a modern-day replacement for a trend-setting supermini that sold 5.5 million examples over 13 years. So no pressure.

As we already knew it would, the new 5 very consciously recalls its spiritual predecessor in the styling department. Even better (so far as we’re concerned) its maker says the wing extenders and the light signature are specifically intended to evoke the Renault 5 Turbo. And with standard 18-inch wheels flush with the bodywork on what looks like fairly wide tracks, it’s fair to say that the latest 5 harks back to the stance of the hot hatch, too. Moreover, while it would be too much to expect a car of the same size, Renault has endeavoured to keep it as compact as possible - in fact, at 3.92m long, it’s 9cm shorter than the current Clio.

That makes it slightly longer than the latest battery-electric Mini Cooper, but rest assured that’s the car Renault is gunning for with the first model based on its new AmpR Small platform. As it has previously suggested it would, this shares bits from the CMF-B architecture which underpins the Clio (among others) to cut costs, although the firm is adamant that the ‘focus on driving pleasure’ has been a guiding principle for the front drive all-electric chassis. For one thing, the 5 has been given it a tellingly quick steering ratio, for another, it has fitted multi-link rear suspension in the pursuit of a superior ride and handling compromise.

Renault has also made saving weight a priority. It always said it was targeting a 1,500kg kerbweight and thanks to lessons it has learnt elsewhere with the electrified Megane and long-running Zoe (and then applied to both the battery modules and the new wound rotor synchronous electric motor) it reckons the 5 with the bigger 52kWh battery will weigh from 1,450kg, while the entry-level 40kWh model should be from 1,350kg. Not exactly flyweight for a supermini, you might be thinking - but that significantly undercuts the electric Mini, which uses comparable battery sizes in the Cooper E and SE.

The weight saving is doubly useful because Renault has not overloaded the 5 with neck-troubling power (understandably so - that’s the job of the incoming Alpine A290). So with the larger battery, you get 150hp and 181lb ft of torque; with the smaller one, it’s 120hp and 166lb ft. Significantly shy of a new Cooper SE with 218hp, although Renault is confident that a sub 8 second 0-62mph time and a top speed of 93mph will be sufficiently competitive. Especially as it has delivered a WLTP range of 248 miles with the 52kWh version and 186 miles with the 40kWh - both comparable with the equivalent Mini (as is the charging, with up to 100kW for the former and 80kW for the latter).

And if you were still in any doubt as to which jugular Renault was aiming at, then the interior certainly settles it. Head nods to the past, check. Natty design features, check. Intriguing material choices, check. We particularly like the front seats - not just because they too were inspired by the R5 Turbo, but because they look brilliant in denim upholstery made from 100 per cent recycled plastic water bottles. Then there’s the two-tier padded dash (very Renault 5) and the manufacturer can even claim 10-inch instrument cluster display is a riff on the original layout. Ditto the air vents, if not the 10-inch central infotainment screen.

Renault is also adamant that the cabin ‘rivals the Clio V’ for interior space, and while its underfloor battery means it’s 6cm taller than its sibling, there’s still sufficient space for a 326-litre boot. As ever, the proof will be in the pudding (and we’ll reserve judgment on things like 11kW bidirectional charging for supposedly feeding electricity back to the grid and the new ‘Reno avatar’ virtual travelling companion) but with the manufacturer previously suggesting it will undercut the £31,195 a Zoe starts at, there’s good reason to think it might be onto a winner - especially if a suggested price of just £25k proves true. In the UK we'll find out later this year ahead of first deliveries in Q1 2025. And even if it can’t replicate the dizzying sales success of its namesake, we’d settle for the return of an imaginative and truly inventive Renault. Not to mention a first-rate template for the Alpine version that will swiftly follow.

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cib24

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