I test cars for a living and this is the best EV I’ve driven this year

I’ve already caught a lot of flak for this from my car enthusiast mates, but I don’t care. The Renault Twingo E-Tech is the best electric car I’ve driven all year, and it’s actually my favourite EV full stop. Yes, I’m serious.

It’s not like my sample size is small. I’ve lived with 15 different EVs for a week apiece in 2026 so far. On top of that, I’ve experienced enough electric car launches, multi-model driving days and car swaps with my colleagues to lose count. I’m not a huge small car (geddit?) enjoyer, either, even if they can be quite charming.

Yet the little Twingo is so brilliant – for such a good price – that it’s the only car I’ve given a full 10/10 score to, even if it’s impractical in certain ways.

It deserves full marks for styling alone, because it’s a car that puts a smile on your face long before you get anywhere near it. With its smooth surfaces, futuristic details and brilliant proportions, the Twingo E-Tech is a seriously stylish piece of kit. It turns more heads than a lot of performance cars.

Step inside and the Twingo isn’t quite as premium-looking, but given this is an affordable city car, Renault has done a good job of keeping things interesting. There are plenty of Tic-Tac-shaped touches in the car’s body colour, neatly breaking up the dark plastics, while the use of different grains and material textures distracts you from the scratchiness.

You’ll be most surprised by the Twingo’s interior space. It’s actually based on the Renault 5’s electric platform, which means it’s quite wide for a city car and offers plenty of room up front as a result. The back seats are clever; two individually-sliding items which mean the Twingo offers more legroom than larger hatchbacks when they’re slid back, or expand the boot from 260 to 360 litres if they’re shoved forwards.

Granted, there isn’t much headroom as a result of the low roofline, but you’re unlikely to buy a city car with interior space as a priority – at which point the Twingo excels for practicality.

There’s a single battery option in the Twingo, a teeny little 27.5kWh unit which offers a claimed 163 miles of range. That may not sound like a lot, and in truth it lags behind the Hyundai Inster and Fiat Grande Panda Electric.

But, and it’s a big but, given I managed to achieve 4.8mi/kWh in my testing (Renault claims 5.0mi/kWh) where I was giving the Twingo the beans on mountainous roads, which means 137 miles. I reckon you’ll match Renault’s claimed figure – or even exceed it – in sensible, real world conditions. The downside to its electrical gubbins is its (option-dependent) 50kW charging speed – which takes 30 mins to top up from 10-80%.

And in the urban, tight roads where the Twingo is most likely to live, it absolutely excels. It absorbs bumpy, broken roads like a much more expensive car, while the 9.8-metre turning circle means it’s a doddle to manoeuvre. The sharp brakes take a moment to get used to, as does the irritating drive select lever, but those are minor marks in an otherwise infallible city car.

If you do venture out of town, the Twingo feels as surefooted and almost as quiet as pricier hatchbacks, and though it only has 82hp the Renault is so light that it easily gets up to speed. Head out to your favourite country lane and you’re in for a treat, because the Twingo is just as fun to chuck around on a twisty road as the larger Renault 5.

So, do I stand by my claim of the Twingo being the best EV I’ve driven all year? Yes, because while the Hyundai Ioniq 6 N is more thrilling to drive, the BMW iX3 can travel over twice as far on a charge and the Toyota C-HR+ is even comfier around town, no other car excels in so many ways as the tiny Renault, while also costing under £20,000 and having quite so much charm.

I’d spend my own money on a Twingo E-Tech, and there aren’t many new cars I can say that about.

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*Savings are made up of the maximum dealer discount off RRP – subject to dealership, location and trim. Prices correct at the time of writing.