The brilliant Renault Twingo is my perfect small electric car and it’s super cute too

Introduction

Every so often a car comes along that seems to stir the senses of even the most jaded of motoring hacks. The Renault 5 was a prime example and the latest model to get car journos fizzing with excitement also comes from the French firm. The reimagined Twingo is a super compact car with a dinky battery pack and enough go to make it perfectly suited to city streets. There’s fab styling and surprisingly high levels of practicality too.

Renault has been going big on the fact that the base level Twingo will be less than £20,000. However, the car to own is the one shown here, the Renault Twingo E-Tech Electric, which is more likely to be in the low to mid-£20k ballpark. It has the Fiat 500e, Hyundai Inster, Citroen eC3 and BYD Dolphin Surf in its sights, so the final price point could prove crucial. Nevertheless, the Renault Twingo has plenty going for it.

Things are being kept simple on the model front. The basic Evolution will arrive wearing wheel trims that I can’t stand, but the Techno model packs all the goodies seen throughout this review and benefits from delicious 18in alloys. Both have the same 27.5kWh hour battery offering a range of up to 163 miles. Kit levels aren’t bad on the basic edition and there’s the same practicality thanks to sliding rear seats that move independently. But, for me, the Techno car seen here is one to own. Here’s why…

The styling

Renault had an original Twingo from the 1990s at the launch and it was quite funny to see the pair side by side, with the reborn car proving to be much bigger than the first iteration. Nevertheless, with a 3.79 metre length, 1.72 metre width and 1.49 metre height, this is a small car by modern standards. The big benefit with the new one is it has five doors, although the rear openings still have pop-out glass as per the original.

That’s a nice touch and kind of summed up to me what this car is all about. It has clearly been designed by people who were passionate about the original, but some clever design ideas and modern materials have revitalised the design immeasurably. The Renault Twingo comes in some really cracking colours too with something for everyone to shout about including Absolute Red, Absolute Green and Mango Yellow. I drove the Absolute Green one, but I’d be just as happy with the Techno trim in any shade.

To be fair, looking at the Evolution model the differences did appear quite negligible, with some slightly less fizzy trim flourishes and those horrible wheel trims being my main takeaway. However, I still think it would be worth heading for the Techno. Both variants are good on space, with what I thought were very good levels of room in the back seats. Sure, getting in and out if you’re a taller person requires a dip of the head to get under the roofline but it’s not a major problem.

Once you’re in it’s fine and the generous amounts of glass help dissipate any feelings of claustrophobia. The nifty adjustable rear seats will be useful too, especially for less straightforward things like buggies, boxes and what not. Storage both front and pack wasn’t bad although, on a trivial note, I thought the central cupholder was too shallow and the door panels weren’t very accommodating for a longer water bottle.

Other storage locations would also have benefitted from stickier or rubberised coverings to stop things rolling around, like the recess along the dash, but I guess cost considerations meant a level of compromise had to be met. My test car also had a neat removable armrest between the front seats that could be unzipped on both sides to store something like a phone or wallet. It’s one of several interior accessory options on offer that have been inspired by what sister brand Dacia does in its cars. Smart thinking in practice.

The drive

As per the Renault 5, the Renault Twingo was great fun to drive. It’s small, has a 60kW motor powered by that compact 27.5kWh battery, and sends everything to the front wheels. All things considered the power distribution is crisp. I got the feeling it might be even more interesting in the wet, with the wheels scrabbling for grip during the couple of occasions I encountered some damp roads.

On smooth Spanish tarmac, the drive felt spot on, with the little car that’s just over 1200kg proving to be heaps of fun on undulating country roads.

This being a city-style car, the Renault Twingo was also a breeze to get around town. The turning circle was excellent. Visibility was good all round too, so parking even without using the rear camera was a no-fuss affair. Plus, what a revelation to be able to drive a car that felt spacious on the inside but still allowed me to see the white lines on both sides of the road. Parking in stupidly small car parks in the UK will be a doddle.

One slightly strange thing was the way that, once I’d stopped, there was no column shifter selection for park. The Twingo had to be put into neutral and the electric handbrake applied, which was hidden quite low down in the middle of the dash. I found it was fine once I’d got used to it, but newbies could, I fear, feel a bit flummoxed. Nevertheless, this is an otherwise super simple car to drive with a one-pedal drive option in my test car that could be controlled via paddles in front of the wheel.

Another impressive aspect of the drive was just how quiet the Twingo proved to be. Even on the motorway it was easy to carry on a conversation with only minimal levels of wind noise detectable. I’d like to try the car on less good UK roads, just to get a proper feel of tyre noise and the suspension setup, but there was nothing here that indicated the Twingo wouldn’t fare just fine on Britain’s rapidly disintegrating road network.

The technology

Renault is currently on a roll with its interior tech; the Twingo’s sound and vision setup was developed with renowned composer Jean-Michel Jarre. I loved the 7in digital instrument panel with its funky but very legible graphics. The 10in central multimedia display was also very good, which bristled with a suite of Google options that included Google Maps, Google Assistant and offered access to Google Play options. I was truly impressed by the audio system in my test car, and it was more than capable across the range, even belting out plenty of bottom end for a vehicle of such small dimensions.

The Twingo also packs up to 24 ADAS options but, vitally, there was an easy-access button trick for getting rid of the irritating cabin alerts.

While the little Renault Twingo might be compact, it was big on useful tech, which also included Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) that offers the ability to power 220-volt appliances up to 3,700 watts. There was a token coffee machine plugged into one example to illustrate this, but it would also be great for charging things like laptops and electric bikes. Impressive for a reasonably cheap and cheerful car, plus there was also a 11 kW AC bidirectional charger and 50 kW DC fast charging.

Renault Twingo verdict

The Renault Twingo is such a great car for numerous reasons. It’s small but fun to drive and packs a very decent amount of space, especially thanks to the five-door design. It’s zippy enough too and the range is perfectly adequate. Plus, thanks to the compact battery, it’s super quick and easy to charge.

Renault has done a brilliant job with the design too, keeping enough of the old-school appeal of the original while revitalising the look outside and in with oodles of clever and genuinely grin-inducing trim tweaks. The carpets and headliner, for example, are brilliant. Overall, this is a car I could really live with.

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