“Renault 5 must get young people out of fuel cars”

Of course, Renault hopes that the order books for the new Renault 5 will be well filled in no time, that is no surprise. In a broader sense, the French think that their Benjamin can herald a new chapter for electric driving. Of course, cars like the Dacia Spring, Citroën ë-C3 and to a certain extent also the Peugeot e-208 and Opel Corsa Electric are already helping larger groups with the EV, but according to Renault, the brand new R5 should go a step further.

In conversation with AutoWeek, among others, during the Geneva Motor Show, Renault CEO Fabrice Cambolive shares his expectations for the R5. Not only does he expect that even more people will switch to an EV, he also thinks that these customers are often young: “The electric B-segment is a game changer, to get people to make the switch. We see that with an affordable electric B-segment car, people are ready to switch from a fuel car to an electric car. In this segment they are often quite young people.” Cambolive is not afraid that the original R5 is too old to make a young generation enthusiastic about the new one. “Even though the R5 has a link to the past, the design will also appeal to young people. It is retro-futuristic, so there is not only a link to the past, but there is also a lot of modernity in it.”

Faster loading, lower costs

The basic price of the Renault 5 may be somewhat lower than that of, for example, an e-208, but it is still not cheap compared to compact petrol cars. Cambolive hopes that electric cars can eventually become more accessible, without resulting in an EV that is of little use. This can be done, for example, by focusing on faster charging of more compact batteries: “We have to look at what the symbolic limits are (in terms of driving range, ed.). For the R5 that is 300-400 km, but perhaps we can go a little lower for other models. I think that the expansion of fast charging options, also in terms of network, is very important. With better charging options, the costs for EVs can be further reduced in the future.” By the way, there is already some room for improvement for the R5, because the entry-level model cannot use a DC charger.