Much like the Renault brand itself, the awkwardly named Le Car represents a distant memory for Americans. The French automaker left the US in the late 1980s but the R5 remained on sale in other markets until the mid-1990s. The company with the diamond logo is bringing it back for 2024 in Europe. Until the big debut at next year’s Geneva Motor Show on February 26, it’s showing some final design details.
The teasers are surprisingly revealing by exposing the final look of the retro-flavored headlights and taillights. We get to see how the shape and appearance of the clusters have changed for the production model compared to the namesake prototype from early 2021. If you don’t remember it, we’ve attached a photo gallery at the bottom of this article. Another teaser shows a section of the profile with creases reminiscent of the R5 Turbo hot hatch.
The most interesting teaser shared by Renault focuses on the hood where the engineers are integrating a battery charge light in the form of an oversized “5.” Initially, the city-oriented EV will be sold exclusively with a 52-kWh battery pack good for 248 miles (nearly 400 kilometers) in the WLTP cycle. It should be a great car to tackle the urban jungle considering it’s going to be only 154.3 inches (3.92 meters) long. That’s basically the length of a Miata.
When car paparazzi spotted a camouflaged test vehicle in early July, we got the sensation that the Renault 5 E-Tech wouldn’t stray away from the prototype. These fresh teasers reinforce our assertion the diminutive EV will be just as retro chic. It’s going to have five doors (with “hidden” rear handles in the C-pillars), extremely short overhangs, and a chunky roof spoiler. A hotter Alpine-branded model is already being tested and has been previewed by the racy A290 concept.
Bound to replace the aging Zoe, the zero-emission 5 won’t be an all-new product. Renault wants to keep the development costs low by borrowing as much as 70 percent of components from the Clio by adapting the CMF-B platform. Just so we’re clear, the new R5 will be offered only as an electric car. Compared to the Zoe and its 12 battery modules, its successor will have just four large battery modules to reduce weight by 33 pounds (15 kilograms).
Priced from around €25,000 ($27,200), the 5 will be followed by two other important nameplates converted for EV purposes – the Renault 4 in 2025 and the Twingo in 2026. Both have been previewed by concept cars just about as interesting as the 5.
