Renault 5 reborn as pure-electric hatch

The famous Renault 5 nameplate will return in 2025 when the French car-maker will reinvent the small hatch beloved by Europeans as a pure-electric supermini.

Set to be one of seven battery-powered Renault models to be launched over the next five years, the Renault 5 Prototype revealed overnight gives us our first look at the car created to pinch sales from the likes of the MINI Electric and Honda e.

Created to carry an affordable price tag, the reborn Renault 5 packs plenty of stylistic tributes to the original, mimicking the iconic hatch's headlights, tail-light design and boot lid.

Designed by former PSA designer Gilles Vidal, it's no surprise the new Renault 5's retro-modern twist has been created by the same man who penned the Peugeot E-Legend concept.

Cleverly, some of the styling elements borrowed from the 5 have a new purpose. Features like the bonnet air intake, for example, now hides the charging port, while the fog lamps are now the daytime running lights.

Thought to be close to the production car Renault will introduce in 2025, the battery-powered prototype neatly incorporates its rear door handles within the C-pillar.

No interior pics have been released, but the retro theme will continue within.

There's also no detail about the Renault 5's pure-electric powertrain, but expect the small hatch to share much with the next-generation Renault ZOE.

This should ensure versions with the biggest battery will have a range of more than 400km.

First launched in Europe back in 1972, the little Renault 5 was never officially offered in Australia, but that didn't stop Renault from selling almost 5.5 million of them worldwide, with the little Ford Fiesta rival remaining in production until 1996.

As well as the 5, it's rumoured the little battery-powered hatch could be joined by a cheaper, more utilitarian take on a small car that will be heavily inspired by the original Renault 4.

Renault has already declared that, come 2025, it hopes that 30 per cent of its total global sales will be pure-electric vehicles.

As well as the standard pure-electric Renault 5, the French car-maker might be tempted to bring back the high-performance Renault 5 Turbo, or even the wilder wide-hipped, rear-engine Turbo 2, to battle the upcoming electric Peugeot 208 GTI.