The biggest debut at this year's Geneva Motor Show is the all-new Renault 5. Yes, the supermini once known as the "Le Car" in the United States is officially back in Europe, but this time it's completely electric.
Discontinued in 1996, the new Renault 5 is ready to tackle the urban jungle. The French brand hasn't messed too much with the design compared to the concept car from early 2021. We're being told the electric supermini—known by its full name as the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric—adopts retro-futuristic styling that gives it a modern look while staying true to its roots.
The cute headlights and vertical taillights are a nod to the Renault 5 before it, much like the prominent wheel arches. Renault decided to integrate the rear door handles at the base of the C-pillars to give the illusion of a three-door body style akin to the original. While the first two generations offered a choice of three or five doors, the new model is a five-door-only affair. Some versions get red body accents as a nod to the R5 Turbo. By the way, a hot hatch will follow later in 2024 in the shape of the Alpine A290.
For the interior, vertical stitching on the dashboard harkens back to original, as do the rectangular air vents. The large frame for the digital instrument cluster and infotainment is a throwback to the blocky dash used back in the day. The driver's display measures 7.0 or 10.0 inches depending on the version, while the touchscreen always has a 10.0-inch diagonal.
The 2024 Renault 5 is 154.3 inches (3.92 meters) long, 69.7 inches (1.77 meters) wide, and 59 inches (1.5 meters) tall, with a wheelbase of 100.0 inches (2.54 meters). Despite being a petite car, the cargo capacity is 11.5 cubic feet (326 liters) and it rides on large 18-inch wheels with 195/55 R18 tires. The new EV is bigger than the Twingo but smaller than the Clio and is the first model to ride on the AmpR Small platform—previously known as CMF-B EV.
The lightest version with the smaller 40.0-kilowatt-hour battery pack tips the scales at 2,976 pounds (1,350 kilograms) while the heaviest one with the 52.0-kWh battery weighs 3,197 pounds (1,450 kilograms). Stick to the base battery and the front-mounted motor will deliver 95 horsepower and 156 pound-feet of torque (215 Newton-meters), or 120 hp and 166 lb-ft (225 Nm). Step up to the upgraded battery and the e-motor will produce 150 hp and 181 lb-ft (245 Nm), in which case 0 to 62 mph will take less than eight seconds while 50 to 75 mph (80 to 120 km/h) will be done in under seven seconds. Flat out, the top-spec model can do an electronically capped 93 mph (150 km/h).
The base battery gets you 186 miles (300 kilometers) of range in the WLTP combined cycle whereas the upgraded pack has enough juice for 249 miles (400 kilometers). The AC maximum charging power is 11 kilowatts, but DC is supported at 80 kilowatts for the smaller battery and 100 kilowatts for the bigger one. Using DC, it takes half an hour to charge from 15 to 80 percent for both batteries. It's worth noting the entry-level Renault 5 with the 95-hp motor doesn't offer DC charging.
Unusual for a model in this segment, EV or not, the new Renault 5 has a multi-link rear independent suspension. The cute electric city car has been engineered with bidirectional charging to power your appliances, a heat pump to quickly warm up the cabin, and brake energy recuperation to juice up the battery. One party trick is found on the hood where the oversized 5 logo doubles as a battery charge indicator light.
The cheapest version money can buy costs around €25,000 in Europe. At current exchange rates, that works out to approximately $27,000. Renault will make the reborn R5 at home in France and will follow up by bringing back the R4 as well. It too will be completely electric, much like the next-generation Twingo. Both have already been teased with concept cars ahead of their market launches in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
