Renault 5 EV debuts – 150 PS/245 Nm single motor, up to 52 kWh NMC battery for up to 400 km range WLTP

After teasing and a prototype showing, the Renault 5 hatchback has now officially made its debut as a battery-electric vehicle.

Called the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric, as known by its full name, the French hatchback reborn as an EV reprises the angular silhouette of its 1972 ancestor with what Renault dubs a ‘retrofuturistic’ style, with key design features of the ICE-powered original redesigned for its present-day EV application, such as the bonnet vent grille that is now a battery charge indicator.

The Renault 5 gets a lighting signature that features a pair of rectangles in the corners of the front bumper, located where the fog lamps were on the original Renault 5 Turbo. A floating rectangular design is employed for the full LED headlamps.

Compact dimensions continue to be the brief for the Renault 5 in its new E-Tech Electric iteration, measuring 3.92 m long, 1.77 m wide and 1.50 m tall with a wheelbase of 2.54 m and wheel track widths of 1.55 m and 1.53 m front and rear, respectively, with a claimed weight of under 1,500 kg. Rolling stock for all versions of the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric are 18-inch alloy wheels, shod in 195/55R18 tyres.

The Renault 5 E-Tech Electric is the first from the manufacturer to be built on the AmpR Small vehicle architecture, formerly known as CMF-B EV. Renault says that the AmpR Small is an electric platform with an ‘optimised carryover’, and is “in no way a combined ICE-electric platform.”

For powertrain, the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric will be available in three variants – 110 kW (150 PS/245 Nm), 90 kW (122 PS/225 Nm) and 70 kW (95 PS/215 Nm), with the front-mounted 150 PS motor variant drawing energy from a 52 kWh battery while the 122 PS and 95 PS motor variants are fed by a 40 kWh battery.

The top variant with the 52 kWh battery offers a claimed range of up to 400 km, while the other two variants with the 40 kWh offer up to 300 km of range; both are based on the WLTP testing protocol. Both are nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) for the best energy density on the market, claims Renault.

For DC fast charging, the 110 KW (150 PS) version of the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric with the 52 kWh battery can receive up to 100 kW of DC charging, while the 90 kW (122 PS) powertrain with the 40 kWh battery can be recharged at up to 80 kW DC. Both variants take 30 minutes to recharge from 15-80% SoC (state of charge).

As for AC charging, the 110 kW (150 PS) and 90 kW (122 PS) versions support up to 11 kW, with support for bi-directional charging for vehicle-to-load (V2L) powering of external devices at up to 3.7 kW, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) feeding of electricity back to the power grid. The base 70 kW (95 PS) variant gets 11 kW AC unidirectional charging.

Safety kit on the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric is claimed to be on par with vehicles from the segment above the 5’s own B-segment, notably with reverse AEB, emergency lane keeping and safe passenger exit, in addition to assistance systems including intelligent adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go and lane centring assist, and hands-free parking.

Further safety-led assistance is brought by Safety Coach, which is a tool to “objectively assesses the driver’s behaviour and practices to provide personalised advice for driving and use of the ADAS, in order to suggest possible improvements.”

Staying with the sustainability theme, the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric gets seat fabric made from fully recyclable material on Techno and Iconic Chiq trim levels, where the latter also gets bio-source materials for its steering upholstery and sound insulation. In a nod to its origins, the EV hatch can also be specified with a baguette holder for when the driver needs their own energy top-up on the go.

In terms of infotainment, the brand’s OpenR Link multimedia system features with Google built-in, offering access to a range of apps including Google Maps, Google Assistant and more from Google Play. Smartphone integration comes courtesy of wired Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay; all versions feature a 10.1-inch central screen.

The Renault 5 also brings Reno, an avatar to function as a virtual companion with answers for up to 200 pre-loaded questions, such as “Hey Reno, how do I connect my phone to the car?”,or “Hey Reno, how do I change a tyre?”. Artificial intelligence also features, with ChatGPT integrated for Reno to answer a range of questions in a conversational manner.

At launch, the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric will be offered in two trim levels for the aforementioned 110 kW (150 PS) powertrain – Techno, and Iconic Chiq. Three exterior colours are offered at debut, and these are Pop Yellow, Pop Green, Pearl White, Starry Black and Midnight Blue. The Renault 5 E-Tech Electric starts from around 25,000 euros (RM129,261) in Europe.

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