Renault 5 Review - It's 'Just Right'
Unless you're a weirdo and into things like Dacia Dusters, it's rare that a 'normal' car will tickle the senses. I'm not talking about things that start off normal and end up with stupid engines in them, I mean the cars that litter side roads - the furniture of the highway. The Renault 5 doesn't come with power figures that'll rip your eyes out, nor does it have a big wing to eat your lunch off. It's a small EV that comes with specs that would, were it any other car, lose the interest of anyone you're talking to in seconds.
Battery and power options
You can have either a 40 or 52-kWh battery, which will firepower to a 120 or 150-hp motor (battery-dependent) that drives the front wheels. The official range is either 192 or 252 miles, as well, which, if you're one of the 'but what if I have to drive to Scotland?!!?!?' crowd, isn't huge. Peak charging isn't mega swift either - the smaller battery can take 80kW max, the larger 100kW. Getting either from 10-80% SOC will take around half an hour. 0-62mph will come and go in either 9.0 or 7.9 seconds, and it'll top out at 93mph. Consider your face distinctly un-melted. A kickoff price of £22,995 rather helps things, of course, but on paper, you might struggle to figure out why so many people are getting so giddy about it.
The secret ingredient: Nostalgia
In the real world, it comes with something that other manufacturers would kill for: nostalgia. If you're of a certain age, the Renault 5 was on pretty much everywhere for about three decades. It was a small, good looking hatch that was either used as a runaround for all, or (perhaps later in its life) as a cheap 'n cheerful first car. There were slow ones, fast ones, and silly turbo ones with massive vents on the side. Being French, the Renault 5 wasn't going to be an anonymous blob to look at - it was all angles, shapes, and 'design.'
When production ended, it hung around for years doing small, cheap French car things until it largely vanished (bar some hardcore types keeping them alive for fun/preservation reasons). The world kept spinning, and Renault kept making cars in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but the 5 was missed. In 2021, Renault released a retro-y concept version of an EV 5, and the internet went a bit nuts for it. It was a perfectly, sympathetically updated take on the car that so many loved, and a perfect panacea for the generic eggs that so many are churning out.
Design Language
Today, it's ready for the road. Sensibly toned down from the concept, its design is exactly what you'd hope from a modern interpretation of the original - the bits you remember are there, enhanced for more modern sensibilities, and beefed up to meet modern safety regs. Inside is a feast of retro touches and modern design, and there's a pleasing lack of scratchy plastics - instead, fabric and soft-touch plastics keep things plush. The infotainment screen does all the usual things neatly, as does the digital instrument binnacle, with a flash of smart design and pops of colour. Where other small EVs are quite soulless places to sit, the 5 is the right side of 'fun.' Helpfully, Renault will let you have it in a lurid green, or bright yellow, as well as blue, grey, white, and black. In any hue, thanks to its shape, it won't blend in with the scenery. In mid-range Techno trim with the big battery, the various toys and materials were pretty bang on - and in that spec, you get the best wheels (high-level cars get fussier rims).
The Drive
The prettiness is a good start, but the drive is where the Renault 5 will live or die. So many small EVs today are smooth enough, quiet enough, and quick enough, but they lack the sort of joy that made small, affordable cars fun way back when. There are a few drive modes: Comfort, Eco, Sport, and Perso (an individual mode). Eco numbs the various inputs and is good for teasing out as many miles as possible; Comfort keeps the 'wheel light and the throttle pleasingly zippy; sport opens up the powertrain and makes the wheel heavier for more engagement. In town, the 5 is rather lovely. With 150 horses to play with, it's a breeze to leap away from the lights, close gaps, and simply cruise around. The ride over lumpy surfaces can get a little wibbly, but it's carrying 1450kgs and isn't riding on a magical adaptive damper or anything like it so that's to be expected. While it's a small car by EV standards, it's still quite large compared to most things out there. Parallel parking and narrow side streets may result in unexpected puckering.
On the motorway, its modest power was never an issue. There was plenty of punch to wind it up to 70mph and sit there happily. Wind noise was kept to a minimum, which meant I could listen to the most recent Driven Podcast without any issue. The CarPlay integration was peachy, but if you prefer to go without that (or Android Auto) its Google-assisted nav was a breeze too.
As Renault put a sport mode in there, it would have been a shame to ignore it. Finding some twisty bits and giving it some welly was most entertaining. Again, the power on offer wasn't face-meltingly brisk, but the way it smoothly delivers torque puts a smile on your face. The car's handling impressed, too. There's a heap of grip, and you can push it pleasingly hard. It's not a hot hatch, but as fun as they come. Be aware, though - putting your foot down too early in a corner will put you in a bit of understeer. There's a lot of torque flying through the front wheels.
It’s all good news
As far as criticisms go… there aren't many. Thick A Pillars can make looking out of junctions tough, but most cars suffer from that. The biggest issue was how much the range dropped on an eight degree day. The 52kWh battery's quoted 252 mile range wasn't going to happen - the car said it was managing 3.1 miles per kWh, which would give a maximum 161 miles on a charge. Sure, that was with mixed driving, but it's still a big difference.
The package Renault's put together here is a big Goldilocks. It's got just the right amount of power (the bigger battery 150hp car has, anyway), the range is respectable, its charge time isn't glacial, the entry price isn't high, it looks great in any of its colours (green or yellow are the best, naturally), and it's good fun without being overwhelming. It's the sort of car the small EV sector's been crying out for, and it feels like it's come at just the right time. If anything will appeal to EV fans and sceptics alike, this is it.
words by Alex Goy
photography by Renault UK
