Renault has revealed that it has a waiting list of 50,000 people for the all-electric 5 E-Tech and plans to begin customer deliveries in September or October.
The compelling new EV will hit the market from around €25,000 (~$27,000), undercutting much of the competition. It takes design inspiration from the original Renault 5 and is the firm’s first ground-up small EV since the Zoe launched a decade ago. While most have yet to see it in person, let alone drive it, it is apparently proving popular.
“We have a waiting list of 50,000 people,” Renault brand chief executive Fabrice Cambolive told Auto News. “We will open orders in May, and we’ll start to deliver cars in September or October. The problem is not to see if we have the customers – the challenge is to have a smooth ramp-up and to be able to deliver to the first customers by October.”
Read: New Renault 5 E-Tech Is A Retro Mini Cooper EV Rival For $27,000
Cambolive noted the carmaker is expecting a lot of conquest customers with the 5 E-Tech. He added the firm also wants to convert existing Zoe owners to the new model. Renault views the 5 as the EV alternative to the Clio which was the second-best-selling small car in Europe last year.
Underpinning the vehicle is the firm’s AmpR Small platform which is derived from the CMF-B architecture used by the Clio and Captur. It will be offered with a single electric motor in 94 hp, 121 hp, and 148 hp guises and customers will have the choice between either a 40 kWh battery or a larger 52 kWh pack that gives the EV up to 249 miles (400 km) of range. These packs provide support for DC fast charging of up to 80 kW and 100 kW respectively. The 5 also incorporates vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.
