Inside Renault 5 reboot as iconic motor returns as cool EV that works everywhere from city traffic to twisty B-roads

WE’RE now up to three super-cool small electric cars.

Fiat 500. Mini Cooper. Renault 5.

4

4

Regardless if you love or hate electric, you can’t say they’re not cool.

The Fiat 500 was hands down my favourite. Then Mini upped its game. Now Renault’s here with the Renault 5.

Another icon rebooted as a cool, clean and quiet electric runabout.

Did I mention they were cool?

R5 is going to be a smash-hit. I’m utterly convinced of it.

The classic R5 silhouette makes me happy. The way it drives makes me happy. The price makes me happy.

Starting from £23k. I repeat, £23k. That’s £5k cheaper than a Fiat 500 with a similar-sized battery and £7k less than a Mini Cooper Electric.

Even the big battery R5 at £27k is £1k less than the Fiat.

And it goes 50 miles further.

And it’s got four doors.

The only one.

And it’s 150kg lighter than the Mini.

We all run better with less timber, don’t we?

Put simply, the R5 works everywhere — in stop/start city traffic, on a motorway, on a twisty B-road.

You sit nice and low in this car, in proper comfy seats. The short-ratio steering is nicely weighted. The suspension nicely judged.

Without being too technical, the multi-link rear axle improves comfort and dynamics.

Pleasing retro essentials

The B-mode braking regeneration system, which sticks a bit of juice back into the battery when you coast, is nicely calibrated.

Everything feels well sorted. And safe. It has all the makings of a cracking little hot hatch. Alpine will see to that.

The cabin combines Eighties cool with a Google-powered touchscreen.

If you’re an Eighties kid, you’ll love the H-pattern seats from the old R5 Turbo.

4

4

If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll love them anyway.

The speedo is big and clear and almost Eighties computer game-y.

There are buttons for all the things we use most — plus one simple button to customise all the driver-assistance tech the law now demands.

So you can switch off all the beeps and bongs and the dastardly lane assist and KEEP THEM OFF. Thank you, Renault.

But I do have a grumble. There’s plenty of headroom for back-seat passengers. But nowhere to put your feet, or a drink, and no charging ports.

Renault is better than that.

The boot is a win, though. That rear axle I mentioned earlier allows for a 326-litre boot — bigger than a Mini, bigger than a 500.

As for looks, all sorts of retro details please me greatly. The swollen arches, another nod to the R5 Turbo. The upright tail-lights. The off-centre bonnet vent.

Except now it’s a charging indicator with a big glow-up “5” sliced into five segments. Each segment for 20 per cent of juice.

There was a lot of pressure to get this car right — and they pretty much have. The magic is back.

Next year we’ll see another small super-cool Renault with a petrol hybrid engine in it.

But I didn’t tell you that.