The Renault Twizy Is Dead, Long Live The Mobilize Duo

Remember the Renault Twizy? Of course you do. The little egg-shaped electric runabout was a bit of a sensation a decade or so ago, but it went out of production last year. But there’s good news – it’s back! Sort of.

Mobilize is a new brand under the Renault umbrella focusing on the sort of clean, nippy urban transport that big corporations like to refer to as ‘mobility solutions’ these days. Much like its biggest rival – the box on wheels that is the Citroen Ami – and the old Twizy, it’s technically a quadricycle, not a car.

Renault doesn’t quote things like power or performance – why would it? – but there’ll be two versions, one complying with L6e quadricycle rules and one for L7e. The former are limited to 8bhp and 28mph – they’re the ones that can be driven in bits of Europe without a full licence – while the latter can have up to 21bhp and achieve a rip-roaring 50mph.

The motor is a tiddly 48v unit, taken from the hybrid system of the Renault Austral crossover, and the battery packs 10.3kWh. This is enough for a quoted range of just over 100 miles. Even if official figures are always ambitious, this should be way more than enough for the sort of urban zipping about the Duo will be doing. Renault banks on a real-world 62 miles in winter.

Koenigsegg-esque scissor doors open up to a surprisingly well-equipped interior. There’s air-conditioning, Bluetooth, a heated seat, and even an airbag – far from a given on this type of not-a-car.

There’s a big sustainability focus, naturally, with 40 per cent of it weight being made from recycled materials, at least 95 per cent of it being recyclable at the end of its life, and 90 per cent of the energy at the Moroccan factory it’ll be built in being renewable.

It also gets a sibling vehicle in the form of the Bento, a teeny-tiny van with a 649-litre cargo box on the back. Expect to see those being ditched on the kerb across European cities while their drivers toss packages into people’s recycling bins.

While we don’t have UK prices yet, both the Duo and Bento are set to arrive in the UK from spring next year. Time to start planning that Citroen Ami twin test.