Renault 5 long term test: report 1

The car Renault 5 E-Tech 150 comfort techno| Run by Claire Evans, consumer editor

Why it's here To see if the new Renault 5 impresses in everyday life

Needs to Raise a smile on rural roads at the weekends, and complete motorway commutes during the week without stress or too much expense

Mileage 1763 List price new £26,995 Target Price £26,995 Price as tested £27,395 Official range 251 miles Test range 194 miles Options Pop Green metallic paint £400

14 June 2025 – Is it a good idea to relaunch a former legend?

There have been countless remakes of classic movies, and many of them don’t bear scrutiny when you compare them with the original – Carrie, Planet of the Apes, and the Star Wars prequel trilogy are just some examples that spring to mind. The same can be said of many cars that have been given the name of past automotive icons; not all have the same appeal as their predecessors.

So, is it a good idea to relaunch a former legend? Well, in the case of the Renault 5, the answer may be yes. After all, it impressed us so much that it was crowned our 2025 Car of the Year at the most recent What Car? Awards.

To find out how it fares with a combination of commuting and family life, I’m living with one for six months. I’ve chosen What Car?’s favourite version, the E-Tech 150, which is the bigger of the two battery options on offer, in our preferred mid-spec Techno trim. 

While that makes it £4000 pricier than the cheapest E-Tech 120 (40kWh) Evolution model, it does mean I get a 52kWh battery instead of a 40kWh one, and some useful additional kit. Adaptive cruise control, a pre-conditioning function to ensure the battery is at the best temperature to charge quickly when you plug it in, and an excellent Google-based infotainment system are all included as standard. The only option I’ve added to my car is metallic paint, which was reasonable at £400. 

Adjustable lumbar support is also standard, and this feature, along with the well-padded, supportive seats, has ao farensured I stay comfortable on longer journeys. 

The Renault 5 has been surprisingly good at doing long driving stints for a small car. On my regular 90-mile motorway commute, I’ve found it punchy enough to hold its own at high speeds. It’s also remained resolutely quiet on the concrete sections of the M25 motorway which circles London, which can result in deafening journeys with lots of loss of grip in some cars. 

I also appreciate its diminutive dimensions around town. It’s shorter than a Mini Cooper Electric, but larger than a Fiat 500e, and it has a tight turning circle that makes it a doddle to manoeuvre around narrow streets and park in small spaces. 

One small annoyance is that the steering wheel mounted gear lever doesn’t always change gear when you pull or push it. This has resulted in a couple of incidents where I expected the car to reverse when it was still in drive. 

Another strange feature is that there’s no park mode on the end of the gearlever, unlike the latest Renault Scenic which has a park button on the end of the stalk. The clear blob on the end of mine does nothing. I can activate the parking brake by pressing the engine stop/start button, undoing my seatbelt or opening the driver's door, though.  

I've mostly home charged the Renault 5 so far, and after an initial blip, this has gone well. The first time I tried to schedule night-time charging using my Andersen EV home charger, I woke up the following morning to an uncharged car and a message telling me that the car hadn’t accepted the charge it was offered at 12.30am. After a quick chat with customer services at Andersen, I tried again the next night with the car also scheduled to start charging at the desired time, and it has worked fine since then. 

Although my car has an official range of up to 251 miles, as with most EVs I’m not getting close to that. So far, on motorway drives, I’m getting around 180 miles out of the car before its batteries get very low, but when I’m driving the car gently around town I can cover around 35 miles but only use up 20-25 miles of range. This means that although the official range is lower than those of some rival EVs, it is enough for most of my driving needs. 

There’s a dash display that gives three different ranges, depending on whether I’ll be doing motorway, mixed or urban driving, and this helps to manage my expectations. 

Another positive thing about driving the Renault 5 is that it gets lots of admiring glances from other drivers, and I’ve even been stopped in the street a couple of times by people who like the look of it and want to know more about it. 

With this in mind, and my initial positive experiences of living with the Renault 5, it appears to be a good remake of a classic, but only time will tell if it deserves to be a box-office hit.

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