Renault Twingo E-Tech Review & Prices

The Twingo E-Tech isn’t just one of the best Renaults on sale, it’s one of the best small electric cars you can buy full stop. It’s related to the excellent 5 E-Tech under the skin, yet it offers a more spacious interior in an even smaller package. It’s brilliant to drive and comes with lots of useful standard kit, but most of its alternatives can go further on a charge.

You can think of it as the North Star, then, in a crowded night sky. There are lots of brilliant electric hatchbacks that shine in their own right, but with its breadth of ability and bold styling, the Twingo stands out the most.

Those other ‘leccy-powered alternatives include the sporty Honda Super N, the funky Fiat Grande Pande Electric, the value-for-money BYD Dolphin Surf and the rugged-looking and boxy Hyundai Inster. The Leapmotor T03 and Dacia Spring are also worth checking out as even-cheaper options.

None, however, look as good as the Twingo - and that’s saying something. There’s a clear link to the petrol Twingo of the 1990s (it wasn’t sold in the UK), which means it’s full of rounded corners and soft lines. The hidden window sills, clever LED lights and fairly aggressive stance make it look premium and expensive, too.

Renault Twingo E-Tech: electric range, battery and charging data
Range: 163 miles
Efficiency: 5.2mi/kWh
Battery size: 27.5kWh
Max charge speed: 50kW
Charge time AC: 10-100%, 4hrs 5min, 6.6kW / 10-100%, 2hrs 35mins, 11kW
Charge time DC: 10-80%, 30min, 50kW
Charge port location: Right side, front
Power output: 82hp

Step inside and it’s almost as quirky, but you can tell where Renault has saved money as there are very few padded surfaces and the side windows really ‘thump’ in place when closing them. The fronts, that is, as the rear pair pop-out, rather than slide down.

It looks brilliant, though, with body coloured panels and a mix of textures breaking up the all-plastic cabin. The 10.0-inch infotainment and 7.0-inch driver displays feature crisp, clear graphics and they’re very bright, which is good, but the rear-view camera resolution is poor.

It’s spacious up front and thanks to the sliding rear seats, the Twingo offers more rear legroom than the larger Renault 5 - though headroom could be better. While there’s a handy tray for your phone up front, the single cupholder isn’t very secure and there are no door bins for rear seat passengers.

The boot is a good size, offering between 260 to 360 litres depending on the position of the sliding seats. That’s taking into account the underfloor storage, which has a handy, split cover for easy access.

You only get one motor and battery option in the Twingo, good for a claimed 163 miles of range. A Citroen e-C3 and mid-spec BYD Dolphin Surf can travel further on a charge, and we managed 118 miles in real-world UK testing.

The Twingo is perfectly suited to urban driving duties. It’s as comfortable as far larger, more expensive cars and its tiny turning circle makes it a doddle to manoeuvre. The tall dashboard and chunky pillars do hinder visibility, that being said.

On the motorway it isn’t quite as composed, but again it feels like a more expensive car than it is. While it’s pretty good to drive on a twisty road, the Honda Super N is just a bit more fun to chuck around corners.

Verdict

The Twingo is excellent, quite frankly. It feels more expensive than the Fiat Grande Panda and it’s more spacious inside than the larger Renault 5. The Honda Super N may be more fun to drive, but Renault has done a cracking job with the Twingo.

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We’re still waiting on a formal price and spec list in the UK, but Renault is adamant that the Twingo will start at under £20,000 in entry-level guise once it’s on sale here at the end of 2026.

The base Twingo Evolution features the same displays and the same funky interior as the more expensive model, while said Techno version will feature an Arkamys sound system, advanced suite of driving aids and a one-pedal driving mode.

A sub-£20k starting price is cracking value for such an impressive little car, notably undercutting the Citroen e-C3 Aircross and Hyundai Inster, while feeling much more composed than the similarly-priced BYD Dolphin Surf or Leapmotor T03.

Perfectly at home in town, yet not out of place on a twisty lane or motorway - but it’s not very fast

In town

Naturally, the dinky Renault Twingo is best suited to town driving. It may be built to a price, but you would never tell in the way the Twingo soaks up speed bumps and skips over potholes - even on the 18-inch alloy wheels of the top-spec Techno model we drove in the UK. It doesn’t bounce over larger humps in the road, which is a common issue in other city cars.

The Twingo is mechanically similar to the Renault 5 which makes it quite wide for a car with such a short wheelbase. Even still, the tiny 9.8-metre turning circle, and standard-fit rear parking sensors make it a doddle to drive. The brakes are even better than the already-sharp items on the Renault 5, too.

Sub-par visibility doesn’t help when manoeuvring, though, on account of the tall dashboard and chunky pillars front and rear. The Twingo can park itself, but you need to control the throttle and brakes.

One irritating issue is the gear shifter, which requires a far-too deliberate and prolonged stomp of the brake pedal and pull of the column-mounted lever to switch from drive to reverse. It’s not only annoying, but all too easy to miss, so take it slow when choosing gear.

On the motorway

Motorway driving is where most small cars stumble, but the Twingo is more than acceptable for a car of this price - even if it isn't as composed at high speeds as it is in town. There’s some tyre roar from the 18-inch alloy wheels, and you’ll notice a spot of wind noise from the tops of the side windows.

Even still, the wide stance helps the Twingo to feel stable at high speeds. It’s not battered by crosswinds, the steering doesn’t feel too jerky and you never have to raise your voice to talk to your passengers. It’s certainly more relaxing than a Citroen e-C3, but the short range hampers its long-distance ability.

Overtakes require a bit of planning on account of the 82hp motor, so slip roads won’t feel like drag strips in the Twingo, but it’s nippy enough.

On a twisty road

Another area where the Twingo fares well is on a country lane, unsurprising given its mechanical similarity to the Renault 5 - one of the most fun-to-drive small cars on sale. The biggest difference between the cars is the Twingo’s rear suspension, which is cheaper and less sophisticated than in the bigger hatchback. It has actually been pinched from the Renault Captur.

Yet some of the best hot hatches ever made feature a similar setup, and the Twingo hangs on around tight corners surprisingly well for such a cheap car. The accurate steering and powerful brakes fill you with confidence, but a Honda Super N is more fun to chuck into bends.

The Twingo’s clever sliding rear seats and two-level boot mean it’s surprisingly practical, but rear headspace is tight

Space in the front of the Twingo is good, even for taller drivers. There’s a lot of adjustment in the seat, and the steering wheel can be moved for both height and reach - not a given in budget cars.

There’s a long, oblong centre console between the seats with open storage at both ends and a single (slightly too loose) cupholder in the middle, while a funky platform beneath the climate control features notches to keep your phone in place. You can’t fit large water bottles in the door bins.

A decently-sized glovebox and optional armrest/storage cubby combo provide some hidden spaces. A fun touch, the passenger backrest folds all the way forward, so you can load long items in with ease.

Space in the back seats

The real shock twist to the Twingo tale comes in the back seats, because this tiny car offers more back seat space than the Renault 5 - almost comparable to the even larger Renault 4. This is thanks to the trick, independently-sliding rear seats (like the Hyundai Inster) meaning you can have 17cm more leg space or boot space, depending on your needs.

Four adults can fit in the Twingo comfortably with the rear seats slid relatively far back, but if you need the extra boot space then the front seats feature soft, padded backs, which are easy on your knees. Headspace is at a premium, though, as a result of the sloping roofline, but this is less pronounced with the adjustable backrests set at a more reclined angle. There are two ISOFIX points behind zips in the back, and the wide-opening doors help when loading in child seats.

The total lack of door bins is a shame, though, as is the fact that the windows don’t roll down - they pop out, just like a car from the 1990s. Also, there’s a total lack of phone charging ports back there…just like a car from the 1990s.

Boot space

Boot space varies from a city-car typical 260 litres with the rear seats slid back to a much more impressive 360 litres with them far forwards. You can adjust them separately, should you have three passengers and a fair amount of cargo to carry, for example.

There’s a bit of under-floor storage with a simple yet clever boot floor solution; two separate panels which lift out, so you don’t need to remove all of the luggage to pull the charging cables out. Renault has, ahem, ‘borrowed’ the U-clip mounting system from Dacia, offering 3D-printed accessories to hang shopping in the back.

The rear seats fold with pull tabs located both in the boot and the cabin, and with them down there’s over 1,000 litres of cargo capacity. It’s a shame they don’t fold flat as in the Inster.

Thoughtful colour and equipment choices are met with scratchy plastics in the Twingo

The Twingo’s interior design is another triumph, following on from the more expensive Renault 5 and Renault 4. That’s not to say it’s a particularly premium cabin, because it isn’t, with loads of hard, scratchy plastics all around you.

Renault has been smart about it, with textural differences across the dashboard, in the door pockets and the use of body-colour trims in the middle to break it all up. It’s a similar effort to the Fiat Grande Panda Electric, but a more successful one - though not by much.

There are plenty of oblong-shaped design cues in the air vents and dash, mimicking the washer bottle flaps on the bonnet, but there is a curious lack of heaters in the middle of the dashboard. Techno models feature very pretty, expensive-feeling heater controls in silver with a knurled finish, while Evolution cars have old-school manual controls instead.

You’ll find the steering wheel from the current-generation Renault Clio, which is a bit too big and doesn’t quite fit the vibe (an example of pound-stretching), as well as a basic driver display with clear graphics.

The 10.0-inch infotainment display is Google-powered, easy to navigate and features a fun colour palette to match the Twingo’s vibrant colour options. We found Apple CarPlay to be a bit laggy, however, so you’re better off sticking to the native Renault system with Google Maps built-in.

Renault offers a load of 3D-printed accessories to make the most of the Twingo’s clever storage solutions which feature modular clips and mounts, but if you’re tech-savvy you can print whatever you need yourself.

Renault claims the Twingo can manage 163 miles from its 27.5kWh battery at an efficiency of 5mi/kWh - putting its range behind the Hyundai Inster (203 miles) and the Fiat Grande Panda Electric (199 miles).

In real-world UK testing we didn’t manage to reach the claimed figure, and at 4.3mi/kWh you’d only achieve 118 miles to a charge. That’s 73% of what Renault claims.

As it stands in entry-level guise the Twingo can only be topped up on an AC charger at up to 6.6kW, which means over four hours from 10-100%. An optional pack, standard on the Techno, increases that to 11kW AC and 50kW DC, which allows for 10-80% in half an hour.

That’s not particularly impressive if you take regular motorway trips, but shouldn’t be an issue around town.

All Twingos avoid the vehicle excise duty luxury car supplement from years two-to-six thanks to their low price, while also sitting in the lowest first-year road tax and Benefit-in-Kind brackets - great news for company car drivers.

The Twingo is too new to have been tested by safety experts Euro NCAP, but we expect the dinky Renault to follow in the four-star footsteps of the 5 E-Tech, new Clio and other recent Renault models.

It comes as standard with a range of safety assistance systems, but it’s the Techno model which offers the whole hog including door opening and cross-traffic warnings, self-park assist, automatic braking and emergency lane keep assist.

You can turn all of this off and save your settings to a button near the steering wheel, which is handy if you’re not keen on being beeped and bonged at as you drive along. There’s an ISOFIX child seat anchor point in both rear seats, too.

It’s too soon to tell if the Twingo will have any long-term issues, but the Renault 5 hasn’t had any nightmare stories since its launch. There were some early software glitches, but these appear to have been rectified.

New Renaults come with a three-year warranty, with unlimited mileage cover in the first two years, capped at 100,000 in year three. The battery is warranted to eight years. This is behind the Hyundai Inster’s five-year warranty, while the hybrid Toyota Aygo X offers up to ten-year and 100,000-mile coverage with annual main dealer servicing.