New Renault 5 design revealed online ahead of official launch

Just last week, Renault teased the production-ready 5 E-TECH, and now the car's design has been fully leaked. Patent images published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) show the subcompact EV in all its retro-modern glory.

As we can see, the production Renault 5 E-Tech remains close to the concept car unveiled in January 2021. We can hardly wait for this attractive EV to replace the Zoe.

The Renault 5 E-TECH in these new images, showing the charging indicator light on the hood as we saw in the teaser. A nice detail we can notice is that there's a charging port on both the left and right front fenders. It's a nice surprise, as having two increases production costs and we weren't necessarily expecting this feature on what will be an affordable mainstream EV. Even the wheel design has been largely carried over from the concept, although the alloy wheels seem a little smaller.

Compared to the concept, the production revival of the R5 has lost the rear light bar on the tailgate to make way for a black trim piece. It has larger side mirrors and traditional front door handles instead of the show car's sleeker ones. The black roof and red accents indicate that we're looking at a high-end version of the little EV.

As a reminder, the third-generation Renault 5 will be electric-only, but won't be built on a dedicated EV platform. The new hatch will adapt the underpinnings of the Clio by sourcing up to 70 percent of the hardware to reduce production costs. The platform is called AmpR Small (formerly CMF-B EV). Unusually for a B-segment car, it will have a multi-link rear suspension, which should result in sharper handling.

The soon-to-be-replaced Zoe has a battery pack made up of 12 small modules. Its successor will have only four, but larger ones. This change will save 15 kilograms and come along with improved underbody rigidity through better integration of the battery pack. As a result, noise, vibration and harshness levels will be reduced.

Another weight-saving measure is the adoption of a new motor that integrates the charger, power converter and auxiliary power management box into one unit. This change will eliminate another 20 kg. The e-motor will be good for 136 horsepower.

Initially, the Renault 5 E-TECH will be sold exclusively with a 52 kWh battery with a range of 400 km according to WLTP. A lower-priced variant with a 40-kWh pack and a shorter range will be added later in the life cycle. These batteries will benefit from higher energy density compared to the Zoe. The new EV will be smaller, measuring just 3.92 meters in length.

The world premiere of the Renault 5 E-Tech is set for February 26 at the 2024 Geneva Motor Show. As for pricing, Renault says it's going to charge about 25,000 euros for the starting trim. 

Source: WIPO