It must be coming up to Christmas because Renault has given us the best present ever — having previewed the return of the Renault 5 in electric form with a wild battery-powered concept car that paid homage to the original mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo rally monster, Renault has confirmed that just such a car will go into production.
In-wheel motors
Better yet, the production version of the electric R5 Turbo looks, if anything, even cooler than the concept with styling that’s more explicitly retro even than that of the new R5 E-Tech. Power is set to come from two in-wheel electric motors — which should allow for some wild torque vectoring technology — which will produce a massive 500hp.
The R5 Turbo 3E has also been shown off in a colour scheme that recreates the look of both the 1980s rally cars and Renault’s own original 1970s Formula One cars — the first F1 cars to compete using a turbocharged engine.
Carbon bodywork
As with the 1980s original, the bodywork has been stretched wide over bigger wheels and tyres and broader suspension, with massive air vents outboard of the rear lights. This is unquestionably going to be one of the coolest cars on the road when it goes on sale in 2026. It won’t be cheap, though — much of the structure is made of carbon fibre and the only shared boy part between this and the regular new R5 is the windscreen — it’s a proper homologation special, albeit without a racing series, although would you bet against Renault introducing a one-make series for this car? 0-100km/h is estimated to take as little as 3.5 seconds. One question though; why isn’t it an Alpine?
Unusually, the announcement of the production model was made not on a motor show stage nor in a press conference but as part of a new series called Anatomy Of A Comeback, which starts airing on Amazon Prime Video today, Friday the 13th of December.
Manufacturing secrets
According to Renault: “With this documentary, the company is throwing its doors wide open, offering a unique insight into its manufacturing secrets and the design of new models such as Renault 5, as well as taking us into the paddocks of the Alpine Formula One Team. It also shares the exclusive reveal of a new model. A true human adventure involving difficulty and failure as well as success, viewed through the eyes of the people on the frontline.”
In the final episode of the series, the cameras follow Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group, Fabrice Cambolive, CEO Renault brand, and Gilles Vidal, VP of Renault Design, on a visit to the Design Department and it’s there that De Meo confirms the R5 Turbo is going to go on sale.