All-new Renault 5 teased ahead of 2024 debut

Just days after first spy shots emerged last week, the all-new 2024 Renault 5 has been officially teased ahead of its launch next year, with the French brand revealing late-stage pre-production mules that confirm the pint-size battery-electric hatchback will remain faithful to the cool concept that previewed it back in 2021.

The new Renault 5 prototypes, painted in matte black with yellow or red accents, give us our closest look yet at the final showroom version of France’s answer to the upcoming MINI Electric and Fiat 500e.

Mirroring the cheeky look of the original R5 concept, the production EV will come with a pair of larger conventional door mirrors, redesigned door-handles and tweaked front and rear bumpers.

Other changes include deletion of the concept’s square LED daytime running lights and rear LED light bar, plus revised headlights and tail-lights, but otherwise the Renault 5 will stay true to the show car’s unique proportions.

That means the R5 hatch will measure in at around 3920mm long, positioning it below the current Renault Clio (4050mm).

We’re yet to see what the 2024 Renault 5 looks like inside, but it’s thought the R5 cabin will at least match the Clio’s, thanks to its CMF-B EV architecture.

Like the upcoming Renault Megane E-Tech electric SUV, the little R5 will be front-wheel drive and its single electric motor, inverter and transmission will be mounted under its bonnet.

Renault says it will build 60 pre-production R5s at its Technocentre R&D facility near Paris, and the first batch of prototypes will be used for testing and validation before full-scale production begins at the company’s Douai factory in northern France.

Initially, the R5 will be available with a small 100kW electric motor combined with a 40kWh lithium-ion battery mounted beneath the floor. A larger 52kWh battery will also be offered, allowing owners to cover more than 400km between top-ups.

The R5 is likely to be capable of charging at up to 130kW, with a 30-minute charge expected to add up to 200km of range.

Later on, a hot hatch version – as previewed by the Alpine A290 Beta concept – is set to feature the bigger battery and a more powerful 160kW electric motor.

Expect the Alpine-branded A290 baby hot hatch, which will go head-to-head with the new Abarth 500e, to also bag sports suspension and a more aggressive body kit.

Renault has already teased an even wilder 280kW R5 Turbo LE hot hatch that imagined an extreme carbon-fibre-bodied drifter capable of a sub-3.5sec 0-100km/h sprint time.

When it’s launched in 2024, the R5 is expected to replace the larger Zoe, which is no longer available in Australia.

According to some reports, the cheapest versions of the Renault 5 will be priced from just €25,000 ($A41,000) in Europe, meaning there’s potential for a local starting price to compete with larger new Chinese EV hatchbacks like the BYD Dolphin and GWM Ora.

The R5 will be the first Renault capable of bidirectional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging, allowing owners to feed electricity back into the power grid.

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