Lobby your local Renault dealer now if you want to see the electric R5 on Australian shores, as it’s a car that gets under your skin.
The new Renault 5 is the first in a series of retro-inspired EVs from the French manufacturer, unashamedly drawing on the original of the 1970s for its design. The detailing and the technology underneath are bang up to date, however, while Renault has also paid attention to how the car drives by keeping weight down.
In terms of the Australian market, the R5 would sit in the not-very-popular city-car class, so it is unclear whether it will be sold here at all, but our first impressions suggest it could net a whole new generation of EV drivers – if it was priced appropriately.
To find out if it cuts the mustard alongside potential rivals like the Fiat 500e and Mini Cooper Electric, we drove the new Renault 5 at its European media launch in and around the city of Nice in France, battling with traffic in town, spending some time on a fast-moving highway and even driving into the clouds on some entertaining mountain roads.
How much does the Renault 5 E-Tech cost?
In Europe, the Renault 5 is priced from €25,000, which is the equivalent of nearly $A41,000 and almost $15,000 less than the price of the Megane E-Tech small electric SUV sold in Australia ($54,990 plus on-road costs).
However, if the R5 comes to Australia, its pricing is unlikely to be a direct exchange and, either way, that headline-grabbing starting price in Europe is for a low-spec variant with a small battery and less powerful motor.
If it makes it to Oz, odds are only the higher-spec model grade would be offered. Our best guess would be a drive-away price just south of $50,000.
