Here's why we gave the Renault 4 our 'crossover of the year' award

Our reigning Electric Car of the Year delivers again! To be honest, were it not for its ever so slightly cooler and ever so slightly less useful sister car – the Renault 5 – winning Car of the Year in 2024, it could have scooped the top prize. It’s that good.

We’re still searching frantically for a chink in the R4’s armour. Styling? OK it’s not as cool as the R5, but compared to 95 per cent of EVs it’s a shot of concentrated joy and sunshine into your eyeballs.

Space? There are larger cars in the world, but for every day, modest family duties its longer wheelbase, bigger boot and extended rear legroom are just right.

Handling? A Ferrari F80 will show it a clean pair of heels, but there’s a clarity to its responses and an underlying squishiness to the ride that makes even short journeys fun.

Range? Sure, 250 miles WLTP means 180 real world, but that’s plenty, especially when you consider the...

Price? You can have one from just £23,445 with the £3,750 electric car grant. EVs get a bad rep for being tedious white goods, so Renault is doing itself, and everyone else, a huge favour right now.

Read TopGear.com's review of the Renault 4 here