The Renault 5 isn't the only Renault that made its comeback in the form of an electrified city car; the utilitarian-esque Renault 4 also returned as the crossover version of the said car.
 |
| 2025 Renault 4 E-TECH |
Starting at 27,990 Euros plus additional costs, the revival of the Renault 4 is a 21st-century take on a utilitarian legend that promises to chart new paths for today's generation of drivers.
 |
| 2025 Renault 4 E-TECH interior |
Beginning with the exterior, the new Renault 4 stays true to its ancestral roots with its styling. Apart from its blast-from-the-past styling, it has 18.1 ground clearance, a variety of wheels, and a choice of having roof rails or a canvas top. Renault says there are over 600 ways to make your Renault 4 unique. How will you style your Renault 4 E-TECH?
The Renault 4's interior is broadly similar to that of the revived Renault 5, meaning it packs an innovative openR 2x10" dashboard packed with over 50 onboard apps, including Google Maps. It even comes with its own in-car mascot named Reno, which pops up when you say the magic word "Hey Reno," it does whatever you ask, a la Amazon Alexa. It's disturbing but addictive.
Asked about the boot space, the 4 can carry up to 410L with the rear seats present, but with the passenger seats folded down, you can have up to 1405L of boot space. Ideal for various situations.
Now, let's talk about the E-TECH powertrain. The base model runs on a 40 kWh battery with 120 PS of power and a range of 322km. The range-topper uses a 52 kWh battery with 150 PS of power and 410km of driving range. It does 0-100kph in 8.2 seconds and flat-out in 150kph. Enough said.
Unfortunately, the Renault 4 E-TECH is available only as a front-wheel-drive model. Given the size of the electric drivetrain underneath, the vehicle may not provide the best handling dynamics, but given its utilitarian looks, it's about as French as a French car should be.
As always, the all-new Renault 4 boasts 26 advanced driver assistance systems and devices developed by Renault for efficient driving. These features include active driver assist, automatic emergency braking, lane departure detection with emergency trajectory correction, parking assist, safe occupant exit alert, and a driver attention monitoring system.
The Renault 4 E-TECH, like its 5 equivalent, is all about the past and the future coming as one with its heritage-inspired looks, futuristic technology, and the EV powertrain to ease your mind. However, if you are not happy with the new Renault 4, perhaps you can try its more expensive alternative, if that's your case.
 |
| 2025 smart #5 |
 |
| 2025 smart #5 interior |
Welcome to the smart #5, the biggest smart car to date. With prices starting at 45,900 Euros plus additional costs, it's by no means the priciest in the new smart lineup.
Unlike the #1 and the #3, the #5 goes for the cubic design that feels like a Hyundai Casper mashed up with the front of a Kia crossover of some sort. As for the interior, the #5 boasts a dual touch screen setup to toy around with while not on the move.
Asked about the boot space, by surprise, it's bigger than the Renault 4 E-TECH, as expected. 630L with the rear seats present and up to 1530L with all seats folded down. You can sleep with it while on a camping trip, as long as you've got your insect repellent with you.
Like the others, the #5 runs on the SEA platform developed by Geely, and because of its RR layout and city car sizing, it behaves in a unique and spartan manner even while going nuts with it. The base variant has a 76 kWh battery pack with 340 PS of power, 373 Nm of torque, a 0-100 kph time of under seven seconds, a 200 kph top speed, and 465km of driving range. The Brabus model with its 100 kWh battery pack has 646 PS of power, 710 Nm of torque, a 0- 100 kph time of less than four seconds, a 210 kph top speed, and up to 540km of driving range.
For safety, the smart #5 features a wide array of advanced driver assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, lane centering assist, lane change assist, lane keeping assist, and blind spot monitoring, among many others.
So, there you have it. The smart #5 is the ideal EV compact crossover that does all the things you desire from city cruising to a trip to the woods, but if you can't afford the smart #5, you'd better be off with the cheaper Renault 4 E-TECH. These new EV compact crossovers may be different, but this is common sense in a nutshell. This is what the new normal feels like.
Photo: Renault, Smart
