Renault teases new ‘affordable’ electric city car

Renault is teasing an upcoming “affordable” city electric car to replace the Twingo as it gears up for its investor’s day tomorrow. But will it be as cheap as the Dacia Spring, Europe’s best-selling (and cheapest!) electric car?

Renault’s new EV unit Ampere will reportedly unveil the new urban EV this week, according to sources who talked to Reuters. The move is a strategic one, to reassure investors in the move toward an IPO in a tough market due to weak EV demands and intense Chinese competition.

Word has it that the new car will be smaller than the already planned relaunch of the R5 hatchback and will replace the Twingo, which will be soon phased out. Whatever it looks like (we have no photos as of yet), it will be built at the Nono Mesto plan in Slovenia, where the Twingo is made, according to the sources. This fact alone separates it from the group’s Chinese-made Dacia Spring (and potentially gives it an advantage in applying to strict EU incentive programs). The new mystery EV will arrive in 2026 and serve as an entry point to Ampere’s EV lineup.

So what will the price be? Chances are it will be priced around €20,000 and potentially even veer closer to €15,000. The new EV will bridge the gap between the already announced R5, which debuts in 2024 and should start at under €25,000, and the Dacia Spring, which is Renault Group’s cheapest EV at just a little over €15,000. The Twingo E-Tech starts around €20,00, and even the new electric Citroën C3 will hit the under €20,000 bar in 2025 with its new downsized version. Size-wise, it will be smaller than the Renault 5, which is 3.92 meters (154.3 inches) long, and will probably be a slight upgrade in luxury terms from the Dacia Spring.

Ampere currently only offers the Megane E-Tech but plans to add five more models by 2030. Renault is moving fast to offer up budget models Renault 5 and 4 coming up soon, in addition to the Scénic Vision. Renault plans to go all-electric by 2030 – and with the French government holding a 15% stake in the company, keeping its high-profile EV business in the country is essential, with the tandem goal of relocating the combustion division outside of France.

Ampere has set November 15 as the date of its investor day, and its CEO Luca de Meo, the former head of the Renault Group, has valued the new EV business unit at up to €10 billion ($10.47 billion). The company, with its three factories in northern France, targets a production capacity of 400,000 EVs to start, ramping up to 600,000 in 2026 and ultimately 1 million in 2031.