This is a fascinating time to spectate the car industry.
It's constantly shifting sands feel equal parts enthralling and petrifying, as looming electrification targets put some of our favourite brands in danger and others atop a new pedestal.
Weave in the sporadic nature of the UK government's EV grants, and even a fastidiously published weekly magazine must hang tightly to the coat-tails of the ever-evolving situation.
A point sagely proven here. The day after photographing this trio (and the day before these words are typed), Ford trumpeted that its Puma Gen-E was the first car clean enough of conscience for the full, £3750 'Band 1’ UK car grant benefit - enough to buy a pretty tidy example of its turn-of-the-millennium badge forebear, the truly wonderful Puma 1.7 coupé…
There are abundant £30k electric crossovers to choose from, but these are the ones from which we've gleaned real enjoyment thus far; they are the charmers of an ever-expanding and overwhelming marketplace.
While the Puma has since snatched the headlines, it is in fact the Renault 4 that inspired this gathering. It picks up all that's irresistible about the littler 5 and kneads it into a longer, more flexible shape, all with a character entirely of its own.
It's not as immediately lovable as the 5 the classic 4 design doesn't translate quite so deftly into a 2020s streetscape but time is kind to it and after just a few days I become very protective of the Renault. It attracts plenty of glances on the road, and boy does its styling stand out among its amorphous rival blobs plugged into a line of motorway service station chargers.
It, too, benefits from government help, albeit the lower, £1500 'Band 2' cash assist, but it was priced quite competitively in the first place the same as a like-for-like 5. It kicks off at £25,495 post-grant, or £29,495 in this plushly trimmed and generously equipped Iconic trim. You get a 52kWh usable battery and 148bhp front-mounted motor, with 0-62mph taking 8.2sec and a WLTP range of 247 miles.
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