ELECTRIC Renault 5 Prototype revealed – Renault’s take on the Honda-E

Renault is going back in time for a new electric car, previewing a new EV with the Renault 5 Prototype, an electric hatch in the mould of the Honda’E.

What’s the best way to get drivers to change from an addiction to ICE cars to a love of electric cars? Do you give them designs that wouldn’t work for an ICE car – perhaps like the Jaguar I-Pace – do you make electric a powertrain option on an ICE car – like the BMW iX3 – or do you go down the ‘retro’ route to appeal – like the Honda E?

Only time will tell which route has most appeal for buyers, but it looks like Renault are heading down the nostalgia road with new EVs, reviving an old badge – the Renault 5 – for a new EV expected to arrive in 2023.

Revealed as Renault start to reinvent themselves – including tying up with Lotus to develop an EV sports car – the Renault 5 prototype doesn’t just use a lost Renault moniker, it takes design influence too.

Just as Honda has with the Honda E (although it still looks like an early VW Golf to us) and Fiat with the 500e, Renault has given the new 5 Prototype a look based on the R5 with an angular look, fog lights that now serve as driving lights and bonnet air intakes that now serve as a charging hatch.

Renault hasn’t revealed what the electric drivetrain will offer, so we don’t yet know if it’s going to offer Zoe-like levels of range or a more meagre range and smaller battery pack like the Honda E.