RENAULT 5

Hotly anticipated EV is already Car of the Year. Now for the real test

In some ways it feels like we know the new, reimagined Renault 5 very well already.

It's been four years since the big-wheeled, boldly styled concept car blasted a splash of yellow across our screens. Rather than quietly retreat to Renault’s heritage collection, the concept was developed into a production car that looks just as spectacular. And it’s not a mere small-series vanity project. The new 5 is here to be Renault’s mainstream hatchback, an entry point into its EV line-up. With a headline price of £22,995, it’s no more expensive than a mid-spec hybrid Clio.

The 5 has already won a number of awards — not least Car of the Year. Can it add five stars from Autocar to its achievements? We've got a high-spec long-range car to find out.

DESIGN & ENGINEERING

PROS Eye-catching looks; produced in Europe; competitive battery size; multi-link rear suspension

CONS None

Some cars are all about the engineering, and while the 5 is a lot more than just a pretty face, it’s the pretty face that’s grabbing all the headlines. The story goes that when Luca de Meo became CEO of the Renault Group in 2021, he surveyed the design studio to get a handle on the new models already coming down the pipeline and found mostly worthy but uninspiring stuff.

Strategically ‘left sitting around’ was a styling model of a car that looked remarkably like a reinterpretation of the old 5. It was meant to be just a style exercise by designer François Leboine (who has since joined Fiat and Abarth) that wasn't destined for reality because it was too retro. However, de Meo reckoned this had to be Renault’s future direction, so engineering was tasked with bringing it to life.