Nissan Set To Debut New Renault Twingo-Based Electric City Car In 2026

For a while now, Renault has been hinting at and making noise about intentions to launch a new version of the Twingo vehicle, and it appears that those plans will soon come to pass.

The French automaker said in a statement that it is working with Nissan to develop a new Twingo, which will be an all-electric vehicle built on Renault's Ampere platform.

Nissan has solidified its presence in the electric vehicle (EV) market with the Nissan LEAF, the pioneering EV to establish a significant market share long before incentives and regulations influenced EV adoption.

The company is further expanding its EV lineup with the introduction of a new electric Nissan Micra, reviving a classic Nissan name for the EV era, and a new electric Nissan Juke, set to be released in 2026.




As if that weren't enough, the Japanese automaker has announced that it will release an electric city car in 2026, based on the new Renault Twingo. The new Renault Twingo, unveiled in 2023, is expected to launch in 2026 with a price tag of around £17,500.

It will be built on the Ampere Small EV Platform, which also underpins the Renault 5. It is anticipated that Nissan will aim for a similar price point for their version.

The new Nissan City Car will likely share a similar powertrain with the base Renault 5. This would include a 40kWh battery, a 118bhp motor, and a range of approximately 200 miles—ample for an urban EV.

No other details about the city car have been disclosed, but the firm stated that it will design the vehicle and that it would fit into their roadmap for reducing development costs and time. Nissan's recovery strategy prioritizes a faster turnaround time for new car models, following recent financial issues and a failed merger with Honda.

The current Alliance agreement tasks Nissan with developing the Ampr Medium/CMF-EV platform for larger vehicles, while Renault is responsible for the Ampr Small/CMF-BEV platform for smaller vehicles.



In a broader sense, The Renault Group and Nissan have lowered the "lock-up undertaking" of the cross-shareholding from 15% to 10% as part of a new Alliance Agreement. Additionally, Nissan is no longer obligated to invest in Ampere, the EV development company of the Renault Group.