Jonathan Crouch thinks Renault's re-born 4 small hatch looks forward as much as it looks back.

Background

Aside from the Citroen 2CV, no other model better sums up the French approach to affordable transport in the post-war years than the Renault 4. Known as the 'Quattrelle' (after its domestic '4L' badge), over 8 million were sold over a 33 year production run between 1961 to 1992 and Renault has never since made another car quite like it; until now. In 2022, the brand signalled its intention of recreating the spirit of the original 4 into a car for the new electric era by creating a concept design, the 4EVER Trophy. Which was well received enough to, three years on, bring us the productionised 4 E-Tech model we look at here. The youthful target market ought to like the concept of a retro vibe, but few of them will be familiar with the original, so the Gallic designers had to achieve a difficult balance here between trendiness, functionality and nostalgia. How did they do? Let's take a look.

Driving Experience

The original Renault 4 was an icon of rural France and, thanks to its long-travel independent suspension and front wheel drive, was known for being quite adept at scrambling over unmade terrain. This E-Tech Electric model doesn't look quite as rough-ready, but it does feature fully independent rear suspension, which is quite unusual in the small hatch class. We haven't yet driven this car, but the signs are good. All the engineering is shared with the 5 E-Tech and the electric Nissan Micra. Which means the Renault Group's AmpR Small architecture platform with front wheel drive and a choice of two batteries and motors. From launch in the UK, this 4 E-Tech will be offered only with a 'comfort range' 52kWh battery with a 150hp motor, 245Nm of torque and up to 247 miles of range. Rest to 62mph takes 8.2s en route to 93mph. Other markets get a version with a smaller 40kWh battery energising a 119hp motor and offering 225Nm of torque and an EV range of 186 miles. This was the first Renault to be launched with a 'one pedal' driving mode, with steering wheel paddles available to alter (via three modes) the regenerative braking level. The 'one pedal' setting (offered only if you avoid base trim) is so fierce it can actually bring the car to complete stop when you come off the throttle. A standard heat pump further boosts driving range in cold weather. And there are up to 28 different camera assisted driving aids.

Design and Build

We're not sure that the 4 E-Tech looks quite as much like the original 4 as Renault thinks it does. But there's certainly a retro vibe here - as with the 5 E-Tech that shares this car's AmpR Small EV platform. If you do happen to remember the 1961 original, the trapezoidal rear quarter windows may spark recognition. And other nods to the earlier car include three-part rear lights, a roof mounted mini spoiler, the three lines sculpted across the door sills, vertical over-riders on the bumper and front-end cut lines referencing the original car's clamshell opening bonnet. The nose bears what is claimed to be 'the world's first one-piece illuminated grille', a light bar which stretches 1.45m across the front end and is fitted above base spec. At 4,140mm in length, with 1,800mm of width and 1,570mm height, this 4 is 220mm longer, 30mm wider and 70mm taller than the 5 E-Tech but is only slightly longer and taller than the original 4. Which means in today's terms that it's still not much bigger than supermini-sized. Like the Sixties model, it can be specified with a cloth roof - the 'plein sud' version. Predictably perhaps given the shared engineering, things are much less unique inside, where the front of the cabin is very little different to that of the 5. Which means provision of a level of modern tech that would have baffled the rural Gallic peasants who flocked to the Sixties original - a 10.1-inch digital driver's display and a 10-inch Google-powered infotainment touchscreen. There are some interesting fabric options that extend into the fascia (notably the denim package), there's a lovely quilted headliner and you can add lots of lifestyle accessories. Thanks to an extra 80mm of wheelbase length over the 5, rear seat leg room becomes almost family-acceptable, though the seat can't slide to improve it. Because the rear floor is almost flat, three adults will fit. The cleverest bit though, is the boot. The engineers wanted to recreate the way the low luggage area floor on the original 4 enabled that boot base to be used as a seat. So they re-worked the crossbeam on the rear subframe to allow for a dramatically low car base - it's 10cm lower than any rival, just 60.7cm from the ground. There's 420-litres of cargo space - including a 55-litre underfloor area perfect for the charging cable - with the space extendable to 1,405-litres with the rear bench folded.

Market and Model

The 4 E-Tech now qualifies for the highest £3,750 level of Electric Car Grant. Which means that grant-deducted prices start from just under £23,500. That's for the entry-level 'evolution' trim; plusher 'techno' and 'iconic' variants are available if you want more standard kit - at grant-deducted prices ranging up to around £28,000. If you've more to spend on your Renault 4, then the brand offers a top canvas folding roof 'plein sud' version (or 'Due South'), which only comes with top 'iconic' trim and costs around £29,500 after grant deduction. The 'plein sud' version's electrically operated roof has a lightweight construction that adds virtually no weight and therefore has no effect on driving range. But with the soft top, you have to do without the ordinary version's chunky roof bars. Across the 4 line-up, the top two spec levels get an illuminated grille. 'Evolution' trim gets you 18-inch steel wheels, while the 'Techno' and 'Iconic' variants get their own unique diamond cut alloy rims. Unfortunately, our market isn't going to be offered the fully-folding front passenger seat which can be pushed flat to take things like surfboards. But we get all of the various interior packs, including the smart denim upholstery option which extends to the dashboard. Renault claims that up to 670 possible combinations of colour, trim and wheels are available on this car, so it will be easy to make it yours. We particularly like the retro Hauts-de-France Green paintwork option, apparently a tribute to the Ile-de-France Blue of the 1960s. You will also be able to specify sticker packs to further personalise the exterior.

Cost of Ownership

There are two ways to get acceptable range from an EV these days. One of them - sticking in a huge battery - simply isn't feasible with a car this small, so Renault's gone all out with the other option in this regard - light weight. They developed a bespoke motor that cuts 15kg in mass and 3cm in length. Which is energised by nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries that use a simplified layout in which cells are batched into larger square shapes. That cuts weight - a lot. The 52kWh pack (using 4 groups of 46 cells) weighs only 300kg. In the future, the UK may also get a version with a smaller 40kWh battery (using 3 modules with 31 cells apiece) - a pack which weighs 240kg. Obviously, all this has a big impact on range figures - rated at 241-247 miles for the 52kWh version (almost the same as those for the 5 E-Tech). The charging speed is 100kW. Expect a 15 to 80% top-up to take just under half an hour from a public DC charger. An 11kW AC 0-100% home charge takes 4 hours 51 minutes. The brand is also offering 'Vehicle-to-Grid' (V2G) compatibility, so that electricity from the car's battery can be intelligently fed back into your home - or even back into the national grid (though you'll need a special 'Mobilize' wall box terminal and a bespoke electricity contract do that). This 4's charging point can also be used to supply up to 11kW of energy to external devices - like, say, a lap top or a camping light. A heat pump is standard, helping to maximise range in particularly cold weather. And the E-Tech system uses Google Maps to automatically begin pre-conditioning the battery when the car is nearing charging points selected in the app. That will mean the battery is then at a perfect temperature on arrival, which will allow you to charge it faster and more efficiently. The Google-based journey planner built into the system can even consider wind direction and speed to predict energy consumption.

Summary

The second model in Renault's so-called 'Iconic family' is just as appealing as the first. The links with the original Renault 4 largely reside in the mind of Renault's marketing department, but since the target audience here won't much remember that car, this hardly matters. It's not the budget choice its combustion predecessor was, but for a spaciously compact EV you can expect decent value in a very avant-garde package. That trendiness is another thing that distances this model from the original Renault 4, which was determinedly the opposite. At least the low boot floor of this new generation model delivers some of that old car's legendary practicality. But time moves on, as does Renault's desire to revitalise its back catalogue. You might enjoy the way they've done that here.