The Classic Renault 4 Just Got a MASSIVE Electric Upgrade

The Independent

The original Renault 4 of the ‘60s and ‘70s was conceived as a rival to the Citroen 2CV. This time round Renault has beaten its French rival to the punch with its revival of its small, family-friendly icon. The new 4 uses much of the same tech as the fabulously fun new Renault 5 – including pretty much the same interior – so the 4 is as great to drive as it is to look at.

Transcript

00:00Do you remember this? The Renault 4? You may not remember it, but back in the day, this car was

00:05super cool. Probably the coolest cat on the street. Probably Renault's rival to the Citroen 2CV, but

00:11it was a farmer's friend. It was a family favorite. It would lollop about country lanes. It was really

00:17comfortable. Lovely little design cues on this, but I used to love the Renault 4. But it's not

00:22about this Renault 4. Come over here. This is the new Renault 4. Following on from the Renault 5,

00:30this is part of Renault's retro reboot. This car is characterful. It's classy. It's charismatic.

00:39And remember I told you about five things of the Renault 5? I'm going to tell you four things

00:44about the new Renault 4.

00:52Number one, let's look at the styling of the new Renault 4. Now, you wouldn't think that this

01:06underneath is the same thing as the Renault 5. It's been extended a little bit, but proportionally

01:11very much in keeping with the old car. So it looks like a little SUV, doesn't it? But let's start with

01:17some of the details. The frame of the grille, it's all plastic these days, but that is illuminated

01:23with LEDs. And these lights here, beautifully detailed LED lights. Chunky bumpers, as you'd

01:31expect from a car that's an SUV these days. And it's quite bluff, quite squarish, as the old car was.

01:38These colors as well hark back to cars in the olden days. This sort of green color, and there's a blue

01:44as well, which looks really good. Retro, but kind of up-to-date. Chunky wheel arches. You've got these

01:49sort of extruded stripes here that look as though they're going to add a bit more protection.

01:56It's really quite cool. The way the rear window is very similar to the old car as well. And this is

02:03my favorite. I'm going to talk a little bit about this. Have a look at this. A rollback canvas roof,

02:08electric these days, powered. Now, this eventually is not going to be on the first cars. It's probably

02:12going to add £1,500 to £2,000 to the cost of your Renault 4 when you buy it. Let's talk about

02:19cost a bit later, but the car will start, I understand, around £26,995. So a little bit

02:24more than the Renault 5, probably about £2,000. But there's only one battery to choose from.

02:28Anyway, come and have a look around the back, because there's some more lovely details, more

02:33chunky details, little roof spoiler here. Of course, you've got the contrasting roof color.

02:38But the old Renault 4 used to have very distinctive rear lights, as does this. Look at these lovely

02:43rear lights and lovely detailing with the central bits that light up and these three separate bits

02:49there. Renault proudly emblazoned across there. Styling-wise, I think it's another great job by

02:57Renault's design team. Yes, it's retro. It's not a pastiche, though. They've kind of brought it up to date.

03:03I like that. Two, let's talk about space and inside the car. Now, from my point of view,

03:11great. Headroom's good. Visibility is OK. Mirrors aren't particularly large. Quite a shallow windscreen

03:18as it is in the Renault 5. But for me, in the driver's seat, there's plenty of space. You've got

03:23wireless smartphone charging. In this car, two 10-inch screens. The infotainment system is excellent.

03:30It's Google-powered. You can use voice control for it. And you can also use voice control to open the

03:35sunroof and the windows and things like that. But this is a family car. So, much as I'm very

03:41comfortable up here, what's it like in the back? Let's get out and we'll have a look in the back.

03:48Now, I know I'm not normal sort of family fare for sitting in the back seats here. But I'm a little

03:55bit disappointed that there isn't a bit more space back here. Maybe rob a bit of space from the boot

04:00just to give you a little bit more knee room. The bigger problem, though, is my feet. There's nowhere

04:05really to put my feet comfortably under the seat in front of me. I have got a flat floor, which means

04:11if there is somebody sitting in the middle here, they'll be better off. Headroom is OK. And if I shut

04:17the door, you know, it's not too bad. But it's not exactly spacious. The other thing is, if you just have a

04:23look at this door opening, it ain't huge. Now, not easy for me to get in and out. I'm a big guy,

04:29I know. But if you're putting a child in a child seat in here as well, it's not going to be the

04:34easiest. So just a little bit disappointed with space here. But let's have a look in the boot,

04:40shall we? Look at that. Powered hatch. Can you imagine what somebody buying an original Renault 4

04:48would have thought if you press the button and the boot rises electrically? They'd have just

04:52laughed at you, wouldn't they? This is a 420 litre boot. There's some storage under here,

04:58which you can put your cables in or you can get a clever little bit of cable storage there. So

05:03420 litres is really good, really family friendly. These seats will, of course, fold down nice and

05:10easily. There we go. Over here, we can fold the passenger seat forward. You're not going to be able to do

05:16that in the UK. So as much as I'm putting surfboards in here over in Portugal, sadly, you're not going to

05:22be able to do that in the UK. But I'm pretty impressed with the boot space. I'll just make

05:28it a little bit smaller and bring the seats back a little bit, perhaps.

05:36Number three, let's talk about the drive. I'm on a country lane here. I've said that this is like a

05:42farmer's car as it used to be the Renault 4. But what's it like to drive today? Well, let's start with

05:50some numbers first. There's only one battery available on the Renault 4. It's a 52 kilowatt hour battery,

05:55which means a range, a maximum claimed range, and it depends which version you go for, of 247 miles, which

06:03I don't think is too bad. Charging wise for that 52 kilowatt hour battery, it's 100 kilowatt is the fastest,

06:13charging speed that you can get, which is not too bad, not fantastic. But it means Renault quotes a 15

06:20to 80% charge time. Thank you very much. Goodbye. A 15 to 80% charge time of about 30 minutes.

06:28Now, this car is unsurprisingly very much like the Renault 5 to drive. It uses all the same underpinnings,

06:36and it's slightly longer just to get a little bit more space in the back. But SoFi feels very much

06:43like the 5 to drive, which means it's really quite comfortable. It's not super comfortable. I would

06:49describe the old Renault 4 as a bit of a lollipa, you know, just sort of bouncy and super comfy over

06:56country lanes and with the family on board. This is a lot more tied down. Now, it's no sports car, but

07:020 to 60 in 8.2 seconds is still reasonably quick. I had a hot hatchback in the 80s, a Citroen AX GT.

07:09I think that was 0 to 60 in about eight seconds. So, you know, times have changed. Electric cars are

07:14quick and you've still got the same response and you've got multi-sense different settings you can

07:21go into. I mean, sport now seems a bit wrong, but going back to the ride comfort, it is a little

07:28firmer than I thought. I thought they might have softened this off a little bit, but it's not going

07:33to be uncomfortable. You know, you'll feel it if you go over a few potholes, but by and large,

07:38you're absolutely fine. Let's just have a look in the back. You know, big headrests really limit

07:43the rear visibility. The rear mirrors are okay. Visibility generally is pretty good. I mentioned

07:50earlier that the windscreen is rather shallow, but generally speaking, this is a nice, easy,

07:56comfortable car to drive. Renault have put the gear lever up here just behind the steering wheel,

08:03but there's no park button. You know, automatic should always have a park so you've got a reverse

08:08neutral drive. I mean, you have to put it into neutral, which is sort of finding it is quite

08:14difficult, and then just pull on the electronic parking brake there. But you know what? I'm just

08:20kind of relaxing into this car. A bit of wind noise going around the outside of the mirrors.

08:27Sounds like the seals need a bit more thickening up or something like that, but generally speaking,

08:33it hasn't quite got the lollop that I would love to see in the old car, from the old car, but it's

08:40comfortable enough. You know, it's not going to make the family sick. I think the bigger problem

08:45for this car, bluntly, is the space in the back. But for me, up here, these twin 10-inch screens look

08:52lovely. Google on board can be a real help. Hey Google, what's the weather like tomorrow?

09:00Tomorrow in Encarnassau, there will be scattered showers with a high of 18 and a low of 14.

09:05Scattered showers. Good job we're getting the video done today.

09:17Four. I promised you four things, and four is the verdict. So, what do I think about the new

09:24Renault 4? Well, yes, I do really like it. I think it's got character, which so many cars don't have,

09:31and it's difficult to inject character into EVs. Renault has managed it really, really well,

09:36just like they have with the 5. There's a little bit more practicality, but I'm going to have to be

09:41very honest. There's not quite enough space in the back. I was hoping there'd be a little bit more

09:48space. And, you know, one of my favorite cars that I've driven this year is the Citroen C3 Aircross,

09:54which might not go quite as far as this car, but it's a lot cheaper, and it's got a lot more space,

09:59and the ride is probably a little bit more comfortable. Is it as cool as the new Renault 4?

10:07No, I don't think so. But if you want one of these, how much are you going to have to pay? So,

10:12there are three trim levels. There's Evolution, Techno, and Iconic. Now, the range will start at

10:18$26,995 and go up to $30,995 for the Iconic version, which is the one we're driving here.

10:25We get a power tailgate and all the loveliness in here, all the sort of retro cues across the

10:32dashboard, the material across the dashboard. It's really nice, by the way. It just warms things up.

10:37So, it's not a cheap car. I think the word is that you could get a top-spec Renault 5

10:44or a mid-spec Renault 4. Depends how practical you want your car to be, although practicality

10:50isn't the strongest suit. So, yeah, what would I give the Renault 4? Well, I would probably give it

10:564 out of 5, which is 8 out of 10, which isn't a bad result. It's just down to that lack of space,

11:02which kind of limits it as a family car, but I do quite love it. There's something about these cars,

11:09that charm, that charisma that makes me love it.

Category

Transcript

Recommended