Renault 5 review

As we said in the Overview, the 5 is very temptingly priced, starting at just £21,495. That's for the Evolution trim and small 40kWh battery.

However, because the larger battery now qualifies for the full government grant, the 52kWh unit and its more powerful motor will now set you back just £23,945 in Techno+ trim.

After that you add £2k for the next trim level up (now called Iconic Five+), while the Roland Garros+ sits at the top of the tree and costs £26,945.

On our shores, even the entry-level Evolution with its small battery and less powerful motor comes with 18-inch alloys (other markets get excellent steel wheels and turbofan-style plastic trims) and Pop Green paint as standard. The step to Iconic+ adds a black contrast roof, recycled denim trim, fancy ambient lighting and fuller driver assistance with adaptive cruise control.

You'll need the £25,495 Iconic Five+ if you want heated seats and a toasty steering wheel, but that trim also brings a different alloy wheel design (still 18in), a fancy Harman Kardon stereo and an excellent yellow interior.

Heated seats are a good way to make an EV feel warm in winter without using the battery-draining space heater. Mind you, all R5s in the UK have a heat pump. On warm days we've seen over 4.0 mi/kWh from the R5, suggesting a real-world range of around 210 miles versus the claimed 252 miles of the bigger battery. In winter expect that efficiency to drop, with a real-world range of around 150 miles. Or less if a cold snap is especially Arctic. Gulp.

Options are few once you've picked your paint. Lack of configuration makes the supply chain and factory run more smoothly, cutting cost. But instead there's a huge range of body stickers and cabin clutter-holder doodahs you can buy afterwards. And yes, you should get the wicker baguette holder.

Green and yellow sit alongside black, white and dark blue on the colour chart. A towbar can be had for £686. There are also some curious graphic packs available. Be wary.

Our favourite model, the bigger battery and motor Techno+, will cost you just £228 a month if you swerve the options and put just under £6k down as a deposit. Add different paint and an option or two and you’re looking at more like £250. We’ll say it again: hell of a car for the money.

Renault has an associated company, Mobilize, that sells energy services. For charging on the go, a Mobilize card consolidates bills and gets access to some rapid networks provided you pay a monthly subscription; standard EV stuff, that. More interesting, Mobilize can supply a bidirectional charge box and arrange a tariff so you can buy cheap night juice and sell it back to the grid at a profit.