If you thought the revival of the Renault 5 was cool, there’s an even cooler version in town – and it’s not the Alpine A290. The Renault 5 Turbo 3E is the first electric ‘mini supercar’, which is essentially a fancy way of saying it’s an electric pocket rocket. Branded as ‘a beast of a car built for rallying, drift and track performance, adapted for the road’, it certainly has a lot to live up to and big boots to fill, given the iconic status of the first 5 to bear the Turbo name.
A Lean, Green Driving Machine
The new Turbo 5 3E will not be for the faint-hearted, as Renault has stuffed 540bhp in a package that weighs just 1,450 kilos and measures just over 4 metres long. Delivering all that power through the rear wheels should keep drivers honest, particularly as acceleration is instant.
To keep the new Turbo’s weight and size down, Alpine engineers decided to opt for two in-wheel motors. These produce a mind-boggling 4,800Nm of torque, powering the ‘mini supercar’ to 62mph in under 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 168mph.
The driving experience is boosted by the battery being mounted below the floor, keeping the centre of gravity low. It’s for this reason that Renault claims the chassis is constructed from carbon fibre. On the topic of the battery, the 70kW unit provides a range of up to 249 miles, although it’s hard to foresee any owners caressing the 5 Turbo 3E enough to achieve that. Fortunately, it can recharge from 15% to 80% capacity in 15 minutes.
There are also a few gizmos for drivers craving more. The power boost button should make overtakes on the M6 a breeze, although it wouldn’t be advisable to use the rally-style vertical handbrake in the process. There are also four driving modes: Snow, Regular, Sport and Race, with the latter containing a drift-assist function.
It’s Unmistakeably a Turbo
Clearly, the design harks back to the legendary 5 Turbo and Turbo 2 of the 1980s. Square LEDs sit above an aggressive, yet still slightly cutesy, front diffuser, while the side features prominent arch extensions with plenty of scoops to herd air in the correct direction. At the rear, there’s a small roof-mounted spoiler and a not-so-small diffuser.
Compared to the standard Renault 5 E-Tech, the Turbo 3E is longer and wider, with the slightly longer wheelbase allowing the windscreen to be moved back.
Inside, the Renault 5 Turbo 3E features carbon bucket seats with six-point harnesses, with the seats and dashboard trimmed in Alcantara. The aforementioned vertical handbrake is a stark visual reminder that this is no ordinary 5, as are the specially designed graphics on the two screens which were inspired by the dashboards of the Turbo 3E’s forefathers.
There’s a Long Wait Ahead
Renault promises a range of colours, both inside and out, with the ability to choose liveries that pay tribute to the new Turbo’s ancestors. A variety of interior colour schemes will also be available.
Just 1,980 lucky people will buy the new model, with the limited production run owing to the year the first R5 Turbo was launched. Reservations will open in the coming weeks and customers will be able to choose the number of their car, which is a nice touch – given the price is likely to be astronomical (for a Renault, at least). However, the fortunate few will have to wait until 2027 when deliveries will begin.
