Renault 5
Distinctive hatch gets an electric rebirth, with a low price and up to 249 miles of range On sale Early 2025 Price from £25,000 (est)
George Hill
New Renault 5 is 290mm longer than its Fiat 500 Electric rival
george.hill@haymarket.com
IT HAS BECOME fashionable for cars from a bygone era to be given a new lease of life in the current day, and the Renault 5 is the latest to be reborn. It’s set to make a timely return in 2025 – and this time it’s an electric vehicle (EV).
Indeed, the 5, which took the small car market by storm in the 1970s and formed the inspiration for rivals that included the original Ford Fiesta, has been completely reinvented for the 2020s. But like the original, the new 5 has been designed to offer stylish, versatile and affordable motoring to a broad audience.
It’ll compete with two other retro small EVs – the Fiat 500 Electric and Mini Cooper – as well as facing up to the thoroughly contemporary MG 4 (our Small Electric Car of the Year for 2024) and the Peugeot e-208.
And speaking of What Car? awards, the 5 is already off to a good start; at our 2024 Car of the Year ceremony, it collected the Readers’ Choice gong, which goes to the upcoming car that’s voted the most exciting.
How the new 5 looks probably helped it to capture the public’s imagination. It’s crisp and modern while acknowledging the original’s unmistakable details.These include the rectangular headlights, closed-off front grille and stacked rear lights. Renault says 95% of the production car’s design has stayed true to that of the concept car that previewed it, too, with the biggest changes being the design of the headlights, daytime running lights and door mirrors.