Humanity is predisposed to find three things categorically adorable, babies, baby animals, and the first-generation Renault Twingo. With recent headlines breaking news that expensive EVs are experiencing slowing sales and poor resale values, what better time for Renault to unveil its new electric Twingo. With retro-cute looks true to the original Twingo that took the world by storm in the late 20th Century, this Twingo promises to be the affordable city car Europeans especially crave, Road and Track reports:
Renault has always been focused on the cheap side of the European market, with cars like the original Renault 5 and the original Twingo, to say nothing of more modern cheap vehicles like those from Dacia, a Renault sub-brand. And Renault has long been big on cheap EVs. Renault makes the Zoe and also the Twizy, which is so small and basic that it’s not legally a full car.
With the debut of this new Twingo concept, Renault hopes to capitalize on the success of affordable Chinese EVs that currently make up 8.4 percent of European EV sales according to Associated Press reporting, as well as its own preexisting affordable EV the Renault Zoe.
While details are slim at the moment, Car Magazine reports,
Renault is targeting some serious specs for the new baby city car, which he says will ‘go from concept to production in around two years.’ The new European-built Twingo, according to De Meo, is ‘a fit-for-purpose urban vehicle with no compromise,’ according to the brand, promising efficiency figures of around 10kWh/100km and will clock in around 75 per cent lower CO2 emissions ‘than the average European ICE car sold in 2023 over its life cycle.’
Unfortunately we are not likely to receive this new microcar in the United States as previous electric city-focused microcars have historically bombed here. Remember the diminutive Fiat 500 e? Neither do we.
Despite a notable lack of presence in the current U.S. car market, Renault did sell cars here on-and-off for a few decades with minimal popularity. Across the globe, though, Renault produced and sold millions of stylish and affordable city cars. Modern-day Renault is partnered with Nissan and Mitsubishi in the Renault-Nissan Alliance, so we do get a Renault platform in the Nissan Rogue and Mitsubishi Outlander crossovers which are shared with the Renault Kadjar.