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2025 Renault 5 E-Tech: Price, range and specs

26th February 2024
Ethan Jupp

Renault has finally revealed its all-new Renault 5 E-Tech EV, a retro-styled all-electric supermini designed to be nothing less than Renault’s ‘Fiat 500 moment’. That’s to say, inside and out, this is a car designed from day one to be a sales darling and an icon. Small, light and affordable aren’t normally words associated with EVs however, so the new Renault 5’s talents need to be more than skin-deep. Let’s get into it.

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2025 Renault 5 design 

It is however the design that’s been roping people in these last three years, since the spectacular concept previewed what was to come back in 2021. Thankfully, in the transition from prototype to reality, the Renault 5 lost very little, if any, of the original study’s charm.

It’s still got that inimitable Renault 5 silhouette, those R5 Turbo-inspired blistered arches and lower day-running lights and the perfectly retro-modernised rears. The new lighting signature can deliver, in Renault’s words, ‘cheeky’ welcome and goodbye sequences. Perfect for frequenting Nando’s then.

New for the production car too is a reinvention of the old bonnet vent, which is now a light-up charge indicator. The front lights have been revised and, we think, improved, with the little lips they now have on each side of them.

There are a couple of wheel choices – both 18 inches – with the original ‘Techno’ design of the prototype joining the optional ‘Chrono’ design. Yes, it’s designed to look like a watch face and of course, it’s always 5 on the Renault 5. If you’re wondering, the spectacular Pop Yellow and Pop Green hues you see in the images are no-cost options. Your time to be adventurous with your order, then…

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Inside the 2025 Renault 5

It’s just as funky inside, too, with a nice big blocky ‘80s style binnacle housing both the 10-inch multimedia screen and the 10-inch driver’s display.

OpenR Link is the operating system, with Google integration for all but the base spec cars. As is the trend in 2024 and beyond, the Renault 5 gets a new Chat GPT-enhanced, voice-powered virtual assistant called ‘Reno’. “Hey Reno” allows you to schedule a charge – pre-conditioning helps, remember – among other commands. Apparently it can answer numerous questions, with 200 FAQs identified as priorities by Renault.

Of course, here is where things could have gone wrong for the Renault 5 ergonomically as it has for so many other cars of late as touch controls are forced upon us. Thankfully, some physical stuff remains. So yes, absolutely crucially, climate controls are handled via a row of buttons below the new infotainment screen.

There’s a new squirkle-style steering wheel that has inputs for cruise control and thankfully, also gives the driver dominion over ADAS and mandated warnings. Goodbye to the infuriating 2024 speed bong at the touch of a button, then.

While there are still stalks for the wipers, lights and media, there’s another curious looking appendage on the Renault 5’s steering column: what looks like a classic column shifter. This is the ‘e-pop’ shifter, with a tip designed to look like a lipstick case. Thanks to it being one of a number of swappable 3D-printed trim pieces, you can customise the look of it and change it after a while too.

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2025 Renault 5 performance, range and specs

Under the skin Renault has clearly taken a very considered approach to the 5’s conception, saving money by grafting bits from existing platforms onto the all-new EV stuff. The result is the Ampr Small platform.

Underneath, it is related to the Clio and Captur – some of the crash structure at the front, the steering rack, for instance – but it gets clever new rear suspension – multi-link over a torsion beam – to add a degree of sophistication to the Renault 5’s dynamics. Renault insists the car’s overall setup has been geared towards fun, stable and responsive handling, as a supermini should be.

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Okay, so what about the meat and potatoes of EVs? Battery capacity, range, motors and performance. From launch the Renault 5 will come with a 52kWh battery delivering a range of up to 248 miles. Later on the option of a smaller 40kWh battery will be added, for a range of up to 186 miles. All Renault 5s will come as standard with a heat pump, which will dramatically improve efficiency in colder climates.

The larger battery can be charged at up to 100kW, for a 20-80 per cent charge in 30 minutes during a full-tilt DC charging session. The 40kWh is somewhat slower, being able to charge at an 80kW maximum. Both cars will however feature vehicle-to-grid/load capability, meaning they can become a part of the grid while plugged in at home or power your home comforts while out in the wilderness.

There are two main power outputs UK buyers will get to choose from. These will be 120PS (90kW) and 150PS (110kW). Full performance data is to be confirmed, though Renault claims the full-fat 150PS version will get to 62mph in under 8 seconds. To be fair, if you want more punch, the R5-based Alpine A290 electric hot hatch is also on the way…

A 96PS (70kW) version has also been discussed by Renault, though it’s not expected to be offered here. It’s likely we will see that motor in the new Renault Twingo, which will share the Ampr Small platform with the 5, when that arrives in 2026.

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The motor is a smaller development of the item found in the Megane E-Tech and has no magnets in order to save weight. That along with a revised battery cell design inform key weight savings over the Renault Zoe this car will effectively replace. In basic 40kWh spec the 5 will weigh an impressive (for an EV) 1,372kg, while the 52kWh car weighs 1,449kg. 

For context, the latter is still lighter than the original basic Zoe, which had less than half the battery capacity. It’s a small car, too, with a more compact footprint than the Clio. Not something that can be said for some retro-inspired EVs. In all it is less than four metres long, with minimal overhangs, and just 1.77 metres wide. It is 6cm taller than the Clio, though that’s to be expected of a car with a battery in its floor that retains headroom.

Sustainability is a key talking point on the new Renault 5 and indeed, in all EVs given what are often high CO2 and environmental costs both in terms of production and end-of-life. The Renault 5 attacks on both fronts by keeping production and componentry extremely local.

Even the batteries are produced in Renault’s new Douai gigafactory from mid-2025. The motor will be built in Cléon, where appropriately, the original 5’s engines were built some four decades ago. There are plenty of recycled materials used in the interior, on the funky seat fabrics especially. Renault also claims the 5 will be 85 per cent recyclable at the end of its life, too.

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2025 Renault 5 price and trim

Two trim levels will be available at launch. These are Techno and Iconic Five – the latter getting the ‘Chrono’ wheel. Reversing camera and wireless phone charging come as standard on all R5s. The top-spec Iconic 5 adds heating for the seats and steering wheel as well as parking sensors. It’ll be customisable too, with some 104 accessories available including a bunch of 3D-printed add-ons, the changeable ‘e-pop’ shifter included and – no this isn’t a joke – a wicker baguette holder.

Renault claims the top-level trim will change every year, so if you want an Iconic 5, you best get in there soon.

Speaking of getting in there, how exactly do you buy a Renault 5? Well, eager beavers can buy an R-Pass for £150 which is effectively a fast-track that allows you to place your order 10 days sooner than anyone else, to be one of the first buyers to take delivery.

Deliveries will begin at the start of next year. As for prices? None have been given explicitly though the plan is for the Renault 5 to start from around £25,000. That’s to say nothing of what the big battery, more powerful motor and top-tier trim cars will inevitably be a bit more than that.

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