Renault Twingo E-Tech Review & Prices

The new Renault Twingo is here to ride the popularity wave of small, affordable electric cars. It’s mechanically similar to the impressive Renault 5, but even smaller - yet more spacious inside. The Twingo looks fantastic, it’s excellent to drive and it’s cleverly-equipped as standard, but other small EVs offer more range.

Think of it as the North Star, in amongst a full night sky. Other electric city cars shine on their own merits, but the Twingo is such a stellar all-rounder that it twinkles brighter than the rest.

You can cross-shop the Twingo against the funky Fiat Grande Panda, cushy Citroen e-C3, well-equipped BYD Dolphin Surf and the futuristic, tough-looking Hyundai Inster. It’s so spacious inside and good to drive that you could even contemplate the Twingo instead of the longer, sportier-looking Renault 5.

But as with any younger sibling, the cutesy Twingo has come along to steal the spotlight away from the larger, slightly older 5. Gone are all of the boxy corners, buff wheel arches and straight lines, replaced by a soft silhouette and curves aplenty. There’s a clear resemblance to the Twingo of the 1990s, which wasn’t sold in the UK.

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

The standard-fit display combo (7.0-inch for the driver, 10.0-inch for the infotainment) features crisp graphics and it’s as responsive as the impressive units in Chinese brands, such as Omoda and Jaecoo, but the driver display could do with a simpler layout.

What’s impressive is the interior space. There’s loads of room up front, with plenty of storage for such a small car, and good shoulder space. The back is where the Twingo shines, with slidable seats offering more legroom than the larger Renault 5. Four adults can easily fit, but the rear is slightly lacking in headroom.

A 360-litre boot puts the Twingo ahead of the Hyundai Inster (351 litres) and almost on par with the 361-litre Fiat Grande Panda Electric. The Renault’s boot drops down to 260 litres with the seats slid back.

A single, small, 27.5kWh battery and 82hp motor combo means up to 163 miles of range. That’s not much compared to the Citroen e-C3 or mid-spec BYD Dolphin Surf, but plenty for a city car.

Renault has developed a fabulous all-rounder with the Twingo, but it feels especially at home in urban spaces. The tiny, 9.8-metre turning circle and firm yet comfortable suspension make it a joy to chuck around tight city streets. It’s easy to park, too.

Its in-town manners haven’t come at the expense of motorway composure, because once the Twingo reaches cruising speed (it takes a little while) it feels stable. There’s a bit of wind noise, but it’s not too bad.

Point the Twingo toward your favourite country lane and you’re in for a treat. It’s grippy, the steering is darty, the brakes are sharp and a lack of body lean means it’s great fun to chuck around corners.

Verdict

The Twingo is excellent, quite frankly. It’s better looking than the mighty Fiat Grande Panda, more spacious than the larger Renault 5, posher than a BYD Dolphin Surf and it’s better to drive than any other car of this size. Renault is onto a winner here.

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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 Ibiza. 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, combined with excellent all-round visibility and standard-fit rear parking sensors make it a doddle to drive.

It’s even easier to thread through narrow streets and into tight parking spaces than its larger counterpart. It’s a shame the brake pedal is quite so sharp at the top of its travel, which takes a bit of getting used to before smooth stops become instinctive.

One irritating issue which also applies to the Renault 4 and Renault 5 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 has the high-speed refinement of a much larger, more expensive car. There’s minimal tyre roar on the 18-inch alloy wheels, but 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.

The 82hp electric motor may not sound like much, but that’s plenty for such a light car at only 1200kg. Overtakes require a bit of planning and slip roads are far from drag strips in the Twingo, but it’s nippy enough.

On a twisty road

Another area where the Twingo shines is on a country lane, unsurprising given its mechanical similarity to the Renault 5 - one of the most fun 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 with aplomb. The agile steering and powerful brakes mean it’s a joy to attack country lanes in.

The only time the Twingo feels unsettled is over large mid-corner dips, but you have to be driving in a particularly sporting manner to feel it.

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 cupholder in the middle, while a funky platform beneath the climate control features notches to keep your phone in place. A decently-sized glovebox and optional armrest/storage cubby combo provide hidden spaces, too.

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, but the low roofline will make loading child seats in a bit of a pain.

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 doesn’t quite fit the vibe (an example of pound-stretching) and a basic driver display with unnecessarily busy 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).

That being said, on our test route along Ibiza’s towns, motorways and twisty mountain roads, we managed to achieve 4.8mi/kWh - which is hugely impressive considering we were driving far from sensibly. It’s easy to imagine that the Twingo will surpass its claimed range in daily use, which puts it in great stead against the inefficient Citroen e-C3.

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.