Renault brings the really cheap electric cars that Tesla and VW only talk about

French car manufacturer Renault has announced an electric car that will be produced in Europe for less than 20,000 euros. The small car for urban traffic is expected to be launched in 2025, Renault’s newly established electromobility subsidiary Ampere announced. Renault has now shown the first images of a prototype that prove: it will be an electric Twingo.

The car manufacturer writes on X (formerly Twitter) that after the R4 and R5, a “third icon is now being revived”. The design is strongly based on the first generation of the iconic small car from the 1990s: short, sharply sloping front end, air intakes on the small hood (which on the concept car can apparently display the battery level from the outside), headlights with an arc and recessed handles for the door openers. The main difference with the original: the E-Twingo appears to be a five-door model.

In addition to the low purchase price, Renault promises an extremely low standard consumption of 10 kWh per 100 kilometers for the new Twingo. The current Twingo has been on the market for almost ten years (since 2014) and shares the technical basis with the outgoing Smart models.

Renault is planning an electric offensive

Renault wants to offer an electric car next year for 25,000 euros, the R5. It is produced in Northern France and is the successor to the electric Zoe in terms of vehicle segment. The design of the R5 has a retro look and refers to the small car from the 70s and 80s. A year later, the R4 is launched in SUV format.

The three models were developed and marketed by Ampere, but operate under the Renault name. The brand wants to have a total of seven electric models on the market by 2031. The goal is to sell 300,000 electric cars by 2025, and this number is expected to rise to one million by 2031. That would be half of the total number of cars produced.

This is the Renault subsidiary Ampere

Renault is targeting an initial public offering of its newly created electric car subsidiary Ampere next year. Ampere employs more than 11,000 people, a third of whom are engineers. Production takes place in three existing factories in Northern France: in Douai, Maubiege and Ruitz. Chinese-Japanese manufacturer AESC Envision and French start-up Verkor, which operate gigafactories near the Ampere plant, will supply batteries.

Electric car prices should drop

“We want to democratize the electric car in Europe,” said Thierry Piéton, Renault’s chief financial officer. In the medium term, list prices for electric cars are expected to fall by 40 percent compared to today, and price parity with combustion engine vehicles should be achieved by 2027/2028 with the second generation Mégane E-Tech Electric and Scénic E. -Tech Electric with the same margins.

Other manufacturers are planning to do so

The race for affordable small cars from European production is gaining momentum: Citroën presented the small car ë-C3 in October for 23,300 euros. The small car with SUV proportions and a range of 320 kilometers will be available for sale from spring 2024 and will be built at the Stellantis factory in Slovakia. A variant will follow at the beginning of 2025 for 19,900 euros with a weaker battery and a range of 200 kilometers.

VW boss Oliver Blume recently confirmed that the group wanted to launch an electric car “in the region of 20,000 euros”. However, a decision has not yet been finalized. The VW ID.2 in Polo format should not appear until 2025 at the earliest.

Tesla could soon follow suit with a cheap entry-level Tesla made in Germany.

Ford plans a cheap electric car for 2024. The electric offshoot of the Puma is mainly intended to attract customers of classic small cars to the electric warehouse.

Affordable electric cars are rare

On Tuesday, the German car club ADAC criticized the fact that it is still difficult to find a cheap electric car. There are currently only three models under 30,000 euros – all with a very limited range: Dacia Spring (from 20,000 francs in Switzerland), the previous Renault Twingo electric (from 24,000 francs) and the Fiat 500e (from 30,000 francs).