RENAULT has finally announced pricing and trim specs for its hugely anticipated Renault 5 E-Tech 100% Electric (as no-one will be calling it) – and it’s actually cheaper than we were expecting.
While Renault had initially planned the new R5 EV as a sub-20k city car, Covid put paid to such economical dreams. Of late, most respected motoring outlets had been predicting a £25k price tag, but now Renault has split the difference and decided that the base model R5 – named the Evolution - will cost from just £22,995 on the road.
That will make the already multi-award-winning hatchback one of the cheapest EVs on the market when it finally goes on sale in January, with buyers able to choose between five - appropriately enough - variants.
The Evolution comes on 18” diamond-cut alloys that are slightly reminiscent of the distinctive ‘tape spool’ wheels of the mk1 R5 Alpine/Gordini, and gets the smaller of two available battery set-ups: a 40kWh power pack pushing out 120bhp that will take you from 0-62mph in nine seconds, with a claimed maximum range of 190 miles between charges (official WLTP figures are not yet available).
The base cars come in a pleasingly retro shade of luminous green called Green Pop! as standard. You’ll pay a premium if you want one of the other four colour choices available – Diamond Black, Arctic White (both £650), or Yellow Pop! (£850), and another £400 on top of that if you want some snazzy retro-styled ‘5’ logo decals for the roof and wings.
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Inside, you’ll be sitting on smart looking mixed grey/black cloth upholstery with tricolour stitching, while on-board tech includes a 10.1-inch central infotainment screen, rear parking sensors and a seven-inch digital driver’s display.
Moving up the range, the Techno trims start at £24,995 with the 40kWh battery: it will cost you an extra £2k on top of that if you want the larger 52kWh unit, which boosts horsepower to 150bhp, reduces 0-62mph acceleration time to 7.9 seconds and affords a claimed range of “up to 248 miles”.
More colour choices are unlocked with this trim, some with sporty red accenting. However, you’ll pay a stiff premium of up to £1,200 for that privilege, which seems a tad steep to me.
Pick of the bunch is probably the Midnight Blue option (£1,050) which comes with ‘Warm Titanium’ (gold by another name, basically) roof line accents: pair that with the gold sticker pack for nostalgic Clio Williams-esque vibes.
Equipment-wise, the Techno adds a rear-view camera, a wireless phone charger, adaptive cruise control and Google Built-in, with seats clad in 100 per cent recycled denim and double-grey stitching.
The flagship ‘Iconic five’ trim starts at £26,995, or £28,995 for the upgraded powertrain, and gets its own unique 18” Chrono wheels, which do look very smart.
It comes in Diamond Black with red body accents as standard (oddly, there are less colour choices available than with the Techno) and adds a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, blind-spot warning and rear occupant safety alert to the equipment list.
Inside, you’ll find synthetic black half-leather upholstery trimmed in grey and yellow recycled fabric with double yellow stitching.
All R5s come with a heat pump and vehicle-to-load as standard, allowing you to power domestic appliances directly from the car’s battery.
The new R5 will be available to order from January, with initial deliveries expected to begin in the Spring.
