Leaked: Early look at new Renault 5 before Monday debut

The 5 is being developed to be the most fun small electric car to drive, according to Renault boss Luca de Meo and his fellow company executives. "The Renault 5 is the car that everybody wants. It's a legend that inspired all generations, and everyone is looking forward to it,” de Meo said at a recent event.

“The final car will be revealed in February at Geneva. I've already test-driven it, and I can't wait to open pre-orders."

The car's Ampr Small platform (formerly named CMF-B-EV), which is also set to underpin the 2026 Renault 4, includes a suite of technologies aimed at providing enjoyable handling.

Chief among these is a multi-link rear axle, claimed by Renault to be the only one used by a B-segment electric car. Multi-link suspension typically provides a better balance between ride and handling than the torsion beams used by the Renault Zoe.

This is because it provides engineers with finer control over the two parameters separately from each other, minimising the compromises inherent to less complex non-independent suspension.

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Asked to clarify what cars the 5’s dynamics are being benchmarked against and how “fun” is being defined, Renault executives wouldn't comment on the competition. However, Jean-Sébastien Blazy, vice-president for vehicle performance, told Autocar: “The R5 will be totally comparable in terms of vehicle dynamics [with] the Mégane E-Tech.”

He also said: “Thanks to the rear axle, we had the opportunity to have this multi-link and to put a lot of understeering behaviour on the rear axle. It’s thanks to that you have a very good stability of the car, because safety is key for sure.

“But with this rear axle, you can have a very dynamic steering without compromise on safety. So, this is our secret in order to give our car very good agility [and] very good steering response and to ensure the stability of the car in extreme manoeuvres, like avoiding a kid or an event or on the road.”

Blazy also emphasised the role to be played by the platform’s all-new brakes, which are being developed to more smoothly blend the hydraulic and regenerative systems. “[Drivers] will not feel the recovery of energy in our future car through the brake pedal,” he said.

Minimising weight will also be key to the 5’s claimed dynamic prowess. Its battery, for example, uses a new layout with cells split into four square ‘big modules’. This is said to improve energy density and therefore reduce weight by 15kg compared with the Zoe’s 52kWh pack. 

The 5 will also receive new motors that omit magnets and integrate the charger, power converter and auxiliary power-management box, cutting a further 20kg compared with the Zoe.

Renault has already confirmed that this motor will produce 134bhp and that it will be produced at the firm’s historic Cléon factory, which currently produces electric powertrains for the Mégane.