Renault 5 long term test: report 6
Back in January, we named the new Renault 5 as our overall Car of the Year, but now we're seeing if it continues to impress when you live with it every day...
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 9102 List price new £26,995 Target Price £26,995 Price as tested £27,395 Official range 251 miles Test range 183 miles
23 October 2025 – Feeling the cold
A recent spell of cold weather has seriously dented the Renault 5’s range. Now, when I get into the car early in the morning and it’s 4-6dec C outside, the total available range reads 185 miles. There have even been a couple of nights where it’s been frosty in our rural village – which to be fair is one of the highest in the country at 255 metres above sea level – and the 100% charged range has shown as 164 miles.
That’s significantly below the official range of 251 miles, and doesn’t bode well for the coming winter months. However, those readings have tended to be rather pessimistic, with the range going down slower than this if I drive gently and add charge when driving downhill using the car's regenerative braking feature.
The readout also appears to be set on the side of caution when the car is plugged into a rapid charger, as I discovered on a recent 475-mile round trip from Kent to Harrogate.
My Renault 5 E-Tech 150 has a maximum charging speed of 100kW, which is faster than the 80kW of the smaller E-Tech 120. However, it’s just under a quarter of the speed of the fastest charging vehicles on sale, such as the MG IM5 and IM6.
The initial reading on the dash when I first plugged the car into an ultra-rapid charger suggested I’d be in for a long wait; it said it would take 50 minutes to get from 12% to 100% charged. However, that estimate soon dropped to 40 and then 30 minutes, and in the end, the car took just 25 minutes to go from low to nearly full.
I believe the charging time was aided by the car’s standard battery pre-conditioning function, which ensures it’s at the perfect temperature to charge quickly when you plug in.
Another small but pleasant revelation is that the Renault 5 is more practical than you might expect. It has 326 litres of boot space, which is more than a Fiat 500 or Mini Electric. With the rear seats folded to provide a bit more space, I managed to get a rather large exercise bike in the boot.
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