Can Europe make decent EVs? Looks like it can! Welcome - Renault 5!

This morning, while sipping on my coffee and scrolling through the news, I found myself devouring 30 minutes' worth of video footage about the Renault 5 EV. Honestly, can’t remember now how I got there, but I was unable to unglue myself from the screen. A couple of things went towards me missing my most productive time of the day:

1. I’ve a soft spot for retro-themed cars. When Hyundai showed its electrified Grandeur, I was blown away (a pity they aren’t for sale). The Renault 5 EV is based on the iconic Renault 5, which was produced from 1972 to 1996. I’ve always thought that modern cars don’t have a soul, and all are just bland copies of one another. Well, Renault seems to break the mould!

2. I love being wrong, as that’s the only way to learn. If you read my posts, you might have noticed that I’m a bit sceptical of European battery industry survival chances in the era of electric transport. The Renault 5 seems to deliver good performance at an affordable price of €33,000, while, of course, not yet beating its Chinese rivals on it. It was developed only in three years, instead of the usual four to five. Could this hint that it is too early to write off European car manufacturers?

3. It’s the batteries that I was most interested in. The car uses an NMC battery from Envision-AESC. which helps to explain a higher price than that of Chinese brands. Currently, the batteries are shipped from overseas, but the plan is to source them from the AESC Doui factory in France. It should be operational as of summer this year, but knowing how battery factories ramp up production, I’d expect that for the next two to three years, these NMC cells will continue to arrive by sea. Renault also seems to be aiming at introducing lower-priced models with LFP batteries from CATL later on.

What is your take on the Renault 5 and the future of the EU automakers? Can cars like this turn it around?