Renault has been one of the pioneers when it comes to the introduction of fully-electric vehicles. Although I doubt that they want to be reminded...
of the first Fluences. However, they've now presented the first electric Renault Twingo. And it took them a while. Or rather, we already know this...
car. Its Smart-brother has been around for some time now and it's only available as an EV. But now Renault has their own version, and it's...
the cheapest electric car in the Netherlands. It costs a little over €20.000, but what do you get for that money?
When they started developing this Twingo, they already knew they wanted to build an electric version as well.
And now it's here, and it does a pretty good job. Beneath the floor, there's enough room for the battery pack.
It's nicely incorporated underneath the front seats to be exact. Besides that, the interior is like we know it from other Twingo's.
That means there's a lot of playful hard plastics, controls that work very conventionally, you name it. It even has a regular key.
No keyless-entry or something, no start-button. Just put your key in the ignition, and you're good to go.
In the front, the seating is very good. Seating in the back isn't, but that's the concept of the car.
It's nice and clear to look out of, which is good for a city car, and it's got a very small turning circle.
Renault clearly sees this car as a city car, or a second car for a family. City usage is clearly the main priority of this car.
You can take it onto the motorway, because it'll do 135 km/h, but it's not meant for that.
Something which becomes clear when we look at the battery capacity, because it's only 22 kWh. That's barely more than you get on a serious...
plug-in hybrid. However, it's the first water-cooled battery pack at Renault. That's very handy for quickcharging.
However, this battery pack isn't eligible for quick charging. Only regular charging is available for the Twingo.
Up to 22 kW, which is the usual amount available from regular charging stations and wallboxes. Quickcharging just isn't possible.
However, if you have a 22 kW-charging station, the batteries will be charged within an hour.
So it's not that dramatic. With the battery pack, you should be able to do 190 km on a single charge according to WLTP.
However, that won't be possible. When we got in, the car was fully charged and the board computer gave us an indicated range of 140 km.
So I wouldn't recommend this as a long-distance vehicle. The Twingo is built on the same production line as the Smart ForFour...
and if we look at the specs of the electric motor, they're the same as with the electric motor in the Smart.
82 horsepower and 160 Nm of torque. You'd think, it's the same electric motor. But Renault denies that thought, they say it's their own motor.
It's a derivative from the motor we use in the ZOE. Anyway, if it's the same or not, it's a very rapid little car.
It moves swiftly and it can easily go with the flow when we're talking city speeds, to put it politely.
Sometimes, the balance isn't very good with cars that have been electrified afterwards. In here, there's none of that.
The tuning of springs and dampers is sturdy, but because the batteries are mounted in a way that the centre of gravity remains low,
it results in a car which has very good handling. It might even be the best handling Twingo there is.
€20.000 for a city car which is rapid and agile, I think that's a very big number. On the other hand, for that money. You won't find anything...
new for less. So, is this a good deal? Well, just consider that you can get a fully electric Seat Mii for only €3.000 more. And that has a range of 260 km.
Stuff to think about, I'd say.