Renault 5 E-Tech 2024 review | First Drive

Despite what it would like you to think, Renault did not invent the hatchback. But it was the appearance of the Renault 5 that did more than any other to popularise the configuration, selling 5.5 million units in a career fully 25 years long, becoming France’s most popular small car in the process. Some act to follow, then.

But ever since rumours of a new Super Cinq started circulating in the dark days of lockdown there was a buzz about the possibility, a buzz that turned into a deafening round of applause when a concept of what such a car could look like was unveiled in 2021. But clearly the finished thing couldn’t possibly look as good. Except that it damn near did.

It arrives in a marketplace hardly awash with affordable compact EVs. By offering electric Mini levels of performance at better than Fiat 500e pricing, there would seem to be a very nice space in the market ready for the new Renault 5 to carve out for itself. But theory is one thing and reality quite another, a truth more readily appreciated in the EV world than most, so it’s time to find out what the new Renault 5 is really like.

The new 5 was designed in house by Renault and precisely no prizes will be handed out for guessing its inspiration. It is however fair to say it’s grown a bit since the 1971 original. Instead of being a tiny bit more than 3.5 metres long, it’s only a fraction under 4 metres. And it is today as wide as a brand-new VW Golf, and considerably taller, too. So, while it is billed as a city car, its ability to squeeze through gaps in the traffic will be no better than those of a completely conventional family hatch.

Beneath that oh so attractive shape lies a brand-new platform designated AmpR which will be for EV powertrain use only. It will also be used for the forthcoming and distinctively styled Renault 4 crossover. Otherwise, the car is a masterpiece in pragmatic parts bin raiding, its electric motor a lightened version of that already found in the electric Megane, while its front suspension comes from the Captur crossover hatch.

Renault makes much of the exotic multi-link rear axle it carries but shouts less loudly about the fact it was sourced from the all-wheel drive version of the latest Dacia Duster.

Interestingly, and unlike its Fiat and Mini rivals, the new 5 has rear doors, with handles neatly concealed. Five door cars are usually seen as quite uncool in this part of the market, but their practical advantage is undeniable and Renault is clearly hoping the 5’s looks more than overcome any marketplace reticence. Renault says no three door version is in the pipeline, despite the original 5 being made in both configurations. That would also seem to preclude the possibility of a convertible option, which some might regard as a missed opportunity.

It’s crunch time. How many of us remember seeing brilliant little French hatchbacks door-handling their way from place to place, ultra-light, about as strong as a packet of crisps, but an unrelenting hoot to drive? How many of us actually drove them? And the point was you didn’t need the GTI version to have a ball because even the cooking version was such good fun to punt from place to place.

Has this new Renault 5 recaptured that spirit? In short, no, and it would have been amazing if it had. In mid-spec form as tested, the 5 weighs almost exactly twice as much as the lightest original 5 and well over half a tonne more than even the heaviest. It would be a conjuring trick beyond the ability of any magician to make this car feel like those and it doesn’t.

But there is still much to enjoy here. Renault has, for instance, been very deft in the way it allows the 5 to use its power and torque. It feels very rapid from rest to 20mph, perfect for leaping onto roundabouts or nipping into a gap in the traffic ahead.

But despite the 8 seconds claimed 0-62mph time, this is not a performance car, and nor is it trying to be – those honours will rest with the forthcoming Alpine A290 version. It’s perhaps curious that its top speed has been limited to just 93mph, but in a car like this and in most real-world scenarios it’s scarcely an inconvenience.

It makes the most of that technically sophisticated rear suspension, serving up masterly ride quality, allowing the car to feel quite soft by modern standards (if not those of the 1970s) but still with enough damping control to keep the body’s primary movements in proper check.

And while the purely objective observer might stop some distance short of calling it actively fun to drive, for a near silent EV with no gearbox weighing over a tonne and a half with a driver on board, it’s certainly quite satisfying to drive and, at times when it’s a little traction-limited coming out of tight bends, or when it's gently tightening its line through a corner in reaction to your throttle inputs, what it offers is an undeniably pleasurable way of passing the time.

It’s a good cabin, but flawed, some distance from being great and perhaps lacking in sense of occasion after the promise of the exterior. Given that owners will spend almost all their time on the inside, it is a shame Renault didn’t try harder to make sure the cockpit was able to cash the cheque so effortlessly written by its external design.

That said, it’s still quite stylish, with some imaginative uses of trim and material to create a quirky and characterful driving environment. The big screen brings all important information close to hand and eye, and while you need to spend some time learning how to easily make it do what you want while on the move, that is nothing new.

Just be grateful that vital systems like heating and ventilation remain within the purview of physical controls. Best of all, there is a one-stop shop button which you can programme to switch off up to five of the no fewer than 26 driver ‘assistance’ functions, which is actually more than you need. Just being able to deactivate lane keep and speed limit control at a single press solves almost all the problems these increasingly mandatory systems present.

There’s a somewhat bigger problem with the driving position, especially if you are over six foot tall. There’s no shortage of rearward travel for the driver’s seat, but the steering wheel doesn’t extend anything like so far, leaving you to choose between limited leg room or an uncomfortable stretch to the wheel, almost as if the steering column came from a car with much more restricted seat travel has been carried over to save money.

The rear cabin is compromised, too with excellent headroom but quite limited legroom. It’s a curious choice to make when the car comes with a massively bigger boot than either the Fiat or Mini; it would have made more sense to free up some of that space for those who sit in the back.

No technological revolution has been wrought under that skin. There’s a single electric motor driving the front wheels alone while the bigger 52kW lithium-ion battery has 184 cells and powers a 400V charging infrastructure. It can charge at up to 100kW – as good as any rival and better than some while also unusually, a heat pump is standard, helping extend range up to 255 miles and reducing that drop off so often found in cheaper EVs during cold weather.

By the time cars start appearing on UK roads early in 2025 they should also possess bi-directional capacity, enabling the car to be charged at cheap rate by night and then sell any excess power back to the grid by day.

The other big news is that the new 5 comes complete with Google Play fully integrated into the car’s electronics, providing access to over 50 apps before you’ve even connected your smart phone. It also comes with ‘Reno’, an avatar in the shape of the Renault badge who “supports and interacts with Renault customers throughout their user experience, both inside and outside the car.”

It can provide tuition on the car’s various systems, advise new settings for new driving conditions and attempts to answer any relevant question you may choose to chuck at it. Perhaps most importantly of all, Reno can be switched off, too.

It is no single thing, but an accumulation of factors that makes the new Renault 5 the most likely small EV to cut the bonds of the market niche in which they all exist at present, and make it into the big time, a player with the potential to be as transformative as was the Fiat 500 back in 2007. The looks are obviously a major – perhaps the major component in this, but even so they are only likely to get the punters through the door.

What will make them write the cheque is its super keen pricing, impressive range, and generous levels of standard equipment. In the UK the range starts with an ‘Evolution’ model with a 40kW battery and a 122PS (89kW) electric motor and should cost within a whisker of £23,000. Spend another £2,000 and you can upgrade to the mid-spec Techno pack to get a 52kW battery with a 152PS (112kW) motor. A flagship ‘Iconic’ model costs another £2,000 but you really shouldn’t bother for the rather chintzy cosmetic extras it provides.

The fact is, while the car has its foibles, in no single area could it be described as being in any way deficient. In truth, the new Renault 5 feels like it could be the breakout car this class has been waiting for, and one that holds out the possibility of not just a complete revolution for the fortunes of that class, but the company that makes it, too.