Affordable entry Renault Twingo-style EV on way

Renault is set to unwrap its most affordable electric car yet at an event to be held later this week, and the EV in question is tipped to undercut both the BYD Dolphin and MG4 if it heads to Australia.

According to Reuters, the pint-size EV will be unveiled by Renault’s new EV division Ampere in a bid to build appetite for the new business ahead of its public listing on the stock market.

Created to battle it out with the cheapest new Chinese EVs, the Renault-branded electric car has been developed to sit below the incoming Renault 5 hatch and will be built at the same Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia that currently produces the Twingo (pictured here).

This has led some to expect the new car will carry the Twingo badge, although it’s thought the third-generation combustion-powered city-hatch will live on alongside the new EV.

Another option is that the new EV will be a smaller replacement for the pioneering ZOE that has been on sale in Europe for more than 10 years.

There’s no word on pricing, but it’s unlikely the baby Renault EV will be as cheap as the €17,300 ($A29,000) Dacia Spring sold in Europe, but it could be priced from just €20,000 ($A34,000), which would make it around $5000 cheaper than the BYD Dolphin – currently Australia’s cheapest EV.

Ampere, meanwhile, has declared that it will bring six EVs to market by 2030, with a source suggesting the new small EV will be on sale by 2026.

Ampere has boldly declared that in the same year the baby EV goes on sale it will sell 600,000 cars globally and that by 2031 its annual volume will have surpassed one million units.

So far, Renault has only shifted 50,000 examples of its battery-powered Kangoo van and the all-new Megane E-Tech electric SUV, although in 2024 it will expand its offering to include both the Renault 5 and the Scenic SUV, with the Renault 4 landing a year later in 2025.

Despite being an EV pioneer in the 2010s, the perception is that Renault has been caught napping while US car-maker Tesla and, more recently, Chinese rivals steal its market share with more modern, sophisticated electric rivals.

It’s thought the new Renault EV could be unveiled as soon as late this evening Australian, when Renault holds an investor day to promote its new EV sub-brand ahead of its stock market float.

Spinning off its Ampere EV division is part of the French car-maker’s grand plan to turn around its fortunes and help it win more investment to rapidly develop yet more EVs.

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