Renault 5 - long-term review

I don’t really like electric cars, but I’m thinking about buying one of these.

If I had a pound for every time I’d heard that sentence (or similar) since I started running the R5, I’d probably have enough cash to buy the thing before it goes back to Renault. And that would make me very happy indeed.

In fact, if I was being paid even a very small conversion fee, I might have earned enough just from the R5’s recent showing at Bicester Scramble. The little Pop Yellow hatch took pride of place between Editor Rix’s long-term Maserati GranTurismo Folgore and the only Kimera EVO37 in the UK on our very own Top Gear stand. The magical reborn Lancia was clearly the star of the show, but I’d argue there was far more interest in the £25k Renault than the wildly expensive Maserati.

Bicester’s Scrambles are full of hardened petrolheads, but plenty had already been down to their local dealer for a test drive of the 5, while others were keen to hear about real world range, efficiency and rear seat space. The first two perfectly acceptable by the way, the latter slightly less so, but I very rarely carry passengers back there.

Of course, lots of the initial interest is down to the looks. The new 5 manages to hark back to the cuteness of the 1970s original, while its chunky arches and surprisingly sharp front bumper remind hot hatch fans of the later Turbo. But here’s the thing, the modern day 5 couldn’t actually look this good if it was powered by petrol.

“When I arrived at Renault in 2009, I got a lot of questions about the 4 and the 5,” Renault’s design boss Laurens van den Acker told me recently. “I used to say, look, I have been hired for the future, not for the past. And I believed that at the time. But EV platforms allow us to get close to the proportions of those days. At that time you didn't really have front overhangs, crumple zones, pedestrian impact zones and all this stuff.

“Cars had their wheels in the corners and good drivability. And with EV platforms, we can replicate this. The motors are more compact, so you can have bigger wheels that are closer to the corners of the car and that turn more.

“If you put an internal combustion engine in it, you would have to add 100mm to the front end, and then you would make a caricature of those cars and not really get close to the actual design.”

So, you want your little French hatch to look this good? It really does need to have an electric motor. But with all that nostalgia, an easy-to-use interior and a genuinely fun drive, I think the R5 might just be the best EV for converting petrolheads.

In fact, one lady I spoke to at Bicester had already been converted and loved her Pop Green example. She was just desperate to know how we got our hands on the highly coveted baguette holder…