2025 Renault 5 E-Tech EV revealed with 50,000 buyers on wait list

March: Renault confirms 50,000 buyers for R5 E-Tech electric hatch

The Australian distributor for Renault has already confirmed it is eager to offer the new 'R5' E-Tech EV – but if the brand's claims are to be believed, it could struggle to get an allocation.

Speaking with industry journal Automotive News Europe, Renault brand boss Fabrice Cambolive said the company has a list of 50,000 potential buyers waiting on orders to officially open.

“We will open orders in May, and we’ll start to deliver cars in September or October. The problem is not to see if we have the customers – the challenge is to have a smooth ramp-up and to be able to deliver to the first customers by October.”

However, car brands will often talk a big game in the lead-up to a new model's official on-sale schedule – if only to entice people to rush an order to avoid any extended delivery wait – so it remains to be seen how many of those 50,000 people will follow through.

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February: 2025 Renault 5 E-Tech EV unveiled

It doesn't happen often, but we've once again been treated to a new model largely identical to its hot concept forebear: the new 2025 Renault 5 E-Tech hatch.

Unveiled at this week's Geneva motor show, the reborn R5 is not only clearly inspired by the legendary Renault 5 that ran in two generations across the '70s to the mid '90s, but it also appears to have changed nothing about the 2021 concept's styling and proportions.

Styling

"The goal was to deliver a vibrant and energetic 'pop car'," said design boss Gilles Vidal in Geneva today. Mission accomplished? Tell us in the comments below.

Fabrice Cambolive, Renault brand boss, says: "We pulled out all the stops for this engaging car, designed and built in France. With its cheerful design and new-generation technologies, it’s out to make electric vehicles more affordable in Europe.”

As expected and extensively teased over the past year, the new R5 carries angular body lines and a compact length with a wide wheelbase.

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There's a splitter in the front bumper and a full-width brand bar at the tailgate connecting the vertical tail-lights with a ‘5’​ badge offset on the right.

That touch harks back to the post-1984 second-generation Renault 5 hatch, which had the carmaker’s diamond logo towards the left front grille.

As something of a successor to the very popular (in Europe) Zoe EV, the reborn and retro-styled Renault 5 E-Tech hatch joins the brand's other new EVs: the Megane E-Tech and Scenic E-Tech.

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Electric system, battery, power and driving range

The 2025 Renault 5 E-Tech has an 11kW AC charger, 80/100kW DC charger, and a choice of 40kWh and 52kWh battery packs with claimed driving ranges of up to 299km and 399km respectively.

Both lithium-ion battery packs use Nickel Manganese Cobalt chemistry.

Power is delivered to the front wheels by an electrically-excited synchronous motor that does away with more expensive and environmentally-unfriendly rare-earth materials.

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Depending on the trim grade selected, the Renault 5's electric motor will produce 70kW, 90kW, or 110kW.

In the UK, there's just the 90kW and 110kW options, the former being paired with the 40kWh battery and the latter with the 52kWh battery.

As you might expect with those sorts of outputs (no torque numbers have been offered), neither of them are rockets. For the 110 kW version, the Renault 5 E-Tech accelerates from zero to 100km/h in "under 8 seconds".

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The Renault 5 E-Tech electric is also the first electric Renault with V2G and V2L functionality, joining the likes of Kia and Hyundai as rolling power bricks.

Excitingly for driving enthusiasts, the 5 also has a multi-link rear suspension design "borrowed from top-end market segments" which should help the new hatch to deliver a fun drive. We'll look forward to testing that someday.

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Platform

The 5 debuts Renault-Nissan’s AmpR Small platform – previously been known by the less sexy Common Module Family-B EV (CMF-B EV) name.

The AmpR Small architecture is claimed to be 30% cheaper to make than the Zoe's platform – thanks to sharing around 70% of parts with the combustion-engined CMF-B that underpins the Clio and Captur city cars.

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As with the newly-launched Megane E-Tech, the 5 features a new battery pack with four large modules for a simpler design, instead of 12 small modules like the older Zoe.

Renault says this setup is 15kg lighter than the Zoe's battery pack, and more space efficient, while giving the underbody added rigidity for greater safety and cabin noise isolation.

This is all part of an overall more compact architecture than the Zoe, achieved by combining the DC/DC converter (which converts the battery pack’s 400-volts into 12-volts to power electronics), the onboard battery charger, and accessory box (which manages power distribution) into one unit.

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How small is the Renault 5 E-Tech?

The R5 E-Tech measures 3920mm long and rides on a 2540mm wheelbase – 280mm and 48mm shorter than the Zoe, respectively. Boot space is likewise smaller, at 326 litres to the Zoe's 338 litres.

The new hatch is also 90mm shorter than the little Clio hatch, but still bigger than the petite Twingo.

Unlike the Zoe, however, the Renault 5 has a bigger brother in the Megane E-Tech, which offers a 2685mm wheelbase and a 440-litre boot – for those who need more rear legroom and cargo space.

Kerb weights are listed at 1450kg for the 52kWh version and 1350kg for the 40kWh version.

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Will the Renault 5 come to Australia?

The brand's local distributor is keen, especially now that there's a right-hand-drive build confirmed.

Renault UK says it will launch the 5 in the first quarter of 2025 – four years since the original concept version was unveiled. With that timing, any Australian launch likely won't occur until late 2025, if not sometime in 2026.

How much will the Renault 5 E-Tech cost?

In Europe, the 5 will open in the €20,000 to €25,000 range – roughly equivalent to $30,000 to $40,000 in Australia.

It would be quite an achievement if that price range is possible in Australia, given it's a bracket currently dominated by Chinese EVs, while the similarly compact Fiat 500e is a $52,000 a proposition.

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