Renault is readying a mass-market EV hatchback for the European market, and it will be called the Renault 5. Ahead of its global debut in February 2024, the design of the production version of the EV hatch has been revealed, thanks to leaked patent images.

1. Renault 5 EV to take on VW ID3 in Europe
2. Will sit on new Ampr small EV platform
3. To get 135hp motor

Renault EV5: exterior design, platform

Renault has confirmed it will show the electric 5 at the Geneva Motor Show on February 26, 2024, but new designs filed with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) give an early look, revealing that it will stay remarkably close to the acclaimed 2021 concept car. The reborn Renault 5 has been changed only very little in its evolution from sketchpad to showroom, as implied by recent teaser images.

The headlight surrounds, for example, appear to be slightly rounder, and the projectors are now more conventionally shaped LED blocks. A charge indicator features on the bonnet – similar to that on the new Renault Twingo concept – with a light-up '5' motif that is used to display the battery charge level.

At the back, the gap between the upper and lower segments of the brake light is wider than before. The light bar that spanned the full width of the rear end has been replaced with a solid-black trim piece. Alongside the release of teaser images, the brand also confirmed that the new 5's 52kWh battery yields a range of 400km, according to WLTP tests.

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.

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 135hp and that it will be produced at the firm’s historic Cleon factory, which currently produces electric powertrains for the Megane.