Bienvenue, Renault 4: Meet Renault’s Latest EV Revival

Renault, like plenty of other old-guard car manufacturers, is looking to its past to guide it into its future. The new 5 has launched to plenty of praise, and before long, the froggy first-generation Twingo will be reborn as an EV too, but in the meantime, there’s this: the new Renault 4 E-Tech.

The original 4, a rugged little hatch, was produced right through from 1961 to 1994, and is one of those cars you’ll still see puttering around rural France, no doubt with a driver so stereotypically Gallic it borders on xenophobic self-parody.

The new electric one wants to recapture some of that brilliant simplicity. The design lineage is clear to see: the single-piece grille that spans the front and encases round headlights, the distinctive ‘A’ shape made by the rear quarter panels, the three moulded lines in the car’s flanks that reference the original’s protective rubbing strips.

It also carries over the retractable canvas roof found on many original 4s, which now rolls back electrically. That opens up to an interior that’s altogether more modern and has plenty of commonality with the new 5, with which this car shares a platform.

A standard 10-inch infotainment screen houses all the important, erm, info and ’tainment, and optionally features the OpenR system, which is built around Google software and systems. Top versions also get a matching instrument display screen, with entry-level cars likely to get the same smaller seven-inch unit that basic 5s get.

Underpinning the new 4 is a choice of two powertrains, both single-motor, front-wheel drive. The entry point pairs a 40kWh battery with a 121bhp motor and gives an estimated 186-mile range. Above that is a 52kWh battery and 148bhp motor – Renault reckons this will be good for a quoted 250 miles of range, and will take the 4 to 62mph in under 8.5 seconds. The battery unit weighs under 300kg, and has vehicle-to-load capability, so you can essentially use the car as a giant generator.

Slightly larger than the 5, the new 4 has pretty plainly been designed to appeal to the crossover crowd with those roof rails and jacked-up ride height – in fact, it rides slightly higher than the Captur crossover. It still has a super-tight 10.8-metre turning circle, though, and we’re promised the suspension has been retuned for extra-floaty comfort in the vein of the original.

The car’s set to arrive in the UK in mid-2025, with full pricing and specs to be revealed earlier in the new year. In the meantime, though, you can drop £150 on an R-Pass to get your foot in the door 10 days earlier than orders open for everyone else.