With the Zoe, Renault had a pretty decent competitor in the electric city car segment but that vehicle is now getting old and is starting to lack behind its rivals in many aspects. The French manufacturer will replace it with the Renault 5, which will be reborn in the form of an electric hatchback riding on a new platform. We’ve seen this vehicle testing on public roads – both as a mule and with its production body (see the related links below) – and new teaser images reveal the exterior design almost in full weeks (or months) ahead of its official debut.
The automaker published photos with a Renault 5 prototype in a press release that details the development center, in which the EV is currently being tested. The Global Production Engineering Center near Paris is the place where the company accurately replicates its actual production processes in order to produce prototypes that represent future production models and validate the production process. This is the site where prototypes of all future Renault models are developed and assembled – from the early mule phases to the final pre-production trial vehicles.
12 Photos
The teaser images show a vehicle that is remarkably reminiscent of the original Renault 5, though there are certain touches that make it look modern and even futuristic to a certain extent. If you’ve seen the Renault 5 Prototype – the concept that previewed the upcoming production model (pictured in the gallery below) – you’ll probably be happy to hear the car that will reach the showrooms will be almost identical. Not all details are visible at this point as there’s still some sort of black camouflage covering the entire body. We don’t know what’s the design of the front bumper, wheels, and rear fascia, for example, but all of this will be revealed (hopefully) very soon.
11 Photos
As for what’s under the skin, the Renault 5 will be based on the new CMF-B EV platform, which has been developed with Europe’s B-segment electric vehicles in mind and will offer up to 30 percent lower production costs compared to the Zoe, which is going to be phased out next year. This is possible mainly due to the fact that the architecture shares about 70 percent of its components with Renault’s CMF-B platform that’s used by vehicles with internal combustion engines. The battery will be lighter than the one on the Zoe but there are no details regarding its capacity. As opposed to the Volkswagen ID.3, the electric motor will be mounted at the front.
