The long-awaited electric Renault 5 has debuted at the Geneva motor show – a Fiat 500 Electric rival with a class-leading battery range that is set to arrive in UK showrooms in early 2025.
A battery-powered successor to the popular Renault 5 hatch of the 1970s and 1980s, Renault says that this new model “harks back to this glorious past” while being a prominent example of the brand’s near future, as it is built on brand-new foundations and comes with several new tech features.
Soon to be Renault’s lead-in all-electric offering, the 5 E-Tech will be one of the smallest superminis on the market when it arrives next year. At less than four metres long, the new hatch is slightly longer than the Fiat 500 Electric, but shorter than the brand’s electric Zoe hatch. Unusually for a car of this size, the 5 sits on large 18-inch alloy wheels as standard. The boot offers 326 litres of luggage space – 12 litres less than the Zoe.
Renault says that one powertrain option will be available at launch – a 52kWh battery and 150hp electric motor pairing that can reportedly muster 248 miles of travel on a single charge. The brand adds that this version can complete a 0-62mph sprint in under eight seconds.
By comparison, the new electric Mini Cooper offers up to 145 miles on a single charge, while the upcoming Citroën ë-C3 offers 198 miles.
Following later will be a cheaper but less powerful 40kWh battery and 120hp electric motor option, which has a reduced maximum battery range of 186 miles. The compact car can also tow trailers, with a towing capacity of 500kg. The top speed is electronically capped at 93mph.
The 5 E-Tech hatch will also be the first Renault model to come with a V2L (vehicle-to-load) bi-directional charging feature, which allows the owner to charge laptops, smartphones and other external electrical devices using the car’s battery. Compatible with 11kW AC and 100kW DC (80kW DC for smaller battery option) charging stations, the hatch’s battery can be charged from 15% to 80% in 30 minutes using the latter.
A heat pump maintains the temperature inside the cabin, which can pre-warm and defrost the car before start-up using physical switches on the dashboard or by a setting in the My Renault app. The car won’t have a single-pedal driving mode at launch, but Renault says this feature could be introduced in a future update.
Inside, the car’s colour scheme is as vibrant as it is on the outside. On the tech front, the car comes with a new infotainment setup that pairs a seven-inch digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel (ten-inch screen for higher trims) with a ten-inch central infotainment screen in the same dashboard housing.
The time it takes to charge the battery can be optimised by pre-conditioning the battery and planning your journey using the infotainment’s Google Maps app. This is one of 50 apps (including Spotify and Amazon Music) available thanks to the integrated Google Play store. The software is also compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
The launch of the 5 also marks the introduction of the brand’s ‘Reno’ voice assistant – an ‘EV specialist’ avatar that receives and responds to voice commands – which the brand hopes will build a “closer bond between the user and their car.” The software is powered using Chat GPT AI, and can answer a wide range of questions in a “conversational way”.
The seat fabrics will be made from fully recycled material for the ‘Techno’ and ‘Iconic’ trim levels. This latter will also include bio-sourced materials for its steering wheel and interior insulation. An acoustic windscreen also comes as standard, to reduce noise in the cabin.
Key trim level features
Entry-level ‘Evolution’
- Keyless start and entry
- LED headlights
- 18-inch alloy wheels
Mid-range ‘Techno’
- All ‘Evolution’ features
- Google apps for infotainment
- Rear view parking camera
- Wireless smartphone charging
Top-spec ‘Iconic’
- All lower trim features
- Two-tone exterior colour scheme
- Heated seats
- Heated steering wheel
Renault is keen to show the small hatchback’s safety credentials – an area of concern of the older Zoe which was given a zero-star Euro NCAP safety score in 2021.
The car comes with a driver attention monitoring system that watches out for tired driving, front and rear sensors with lane keep assistance, emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. The car also comes with parking assistance (presumably for higher trims), which can reportedly park the car without prompt from the steering wheel.
That sums up what we know about the new Renault 5 E-Tech so far. More details, including the model’s UK pricing, will be announced in the coming months.
