New Renault 5 EV Teaser Unveils Exterior Design & New Details

The iconic Renault 5 will be reborn in the 21st century as an all-electric hot hatch. While we’ve previously shared several mechanical details on this revived rally icon, the French automaker has unveiled its exterior design for the first time today, in a series of official teaser images.

Renault 5 EV prototype model (left) & Renault 5 Concept (right)

As expected, the new R5 EV prototype is draped in a thin black wrap with yellow or red accents that highlight the character lines of its bodywork. In spite of being wrapped, we can still see the R5 EV’s bodystyle and other design cues, which doesn’t look that far-off from the Renault 5 Concept unveiled back in 2021. Some notable differences of the teased model against the concept are the different front bumper and headlights design, as well as bigger side mirrors.

Despite this, the new R5 EV still sports several design cues that pays homage to the old R5 models, notably its front headlights design and overall hatchback silhouette. Dimension-wise, the new R5 is expected to be 3,920 MM long – slightly shorter than the Renault Clio hatch (4,050 MM).

Renault's CMF-BEV architecture underpinned by the R5 EV

As for its mechanical bits, we already knew that the R5 EV will underpin Renault’s new CMF-BEV architecture, which will be shared by several other compact EV models, including the new Nissan Micra EV. The R5 EV will harness a single, front-mounted (FWD) electric motor rated at 134 HP (100 kW), juiced by a 40-kWh battery pack. 

Meanwhile, the higher-spec R5 EV will get a bigger 52-kWh battery instead, thus allowing the EV hatch to travel as far as 400 KM on a single charge.

With the battery pack mounted beneath the car’s floor, this promises the R5 EV to have a slightly roomier cabin compared to the Clio, in spite of having a shorter wheelbase. Speaking of cabin, the automaker has yet to unveil any teaser images of the R5 EV’s innards, but we expect them to be somewhat futuristic, featuring all the standard modern amenities expected in any EVs.

The Renault 5 EV is poised to make its global debut later in 2024, replacing the ageing Renault Zoe as the French national automaker’s new compact EV hatch model. Production of the R5 EV will take place at Renault’s new facility in Douai, France. This EV hatch will stand alongside the facelifted Renault Clio, with the latter becoming the ICE-powered alternative to the R5.

As for its pricing, Renault targets the R5 EV to have an entry price below the €25,000 (RM128,188) mark, making it a direct competitor to the Volkswagen ID.2 – which is touted to be the most affordable EV in the European market.