FOLLOWING on from the return of the legendary Renault 5 Turbo, the French car giant has now picked up a top award for another all-electric redesign of a classic model – the Renault 4.

The Renault 4 E-Tech electric picked up the Electric Car of the Year crown at the TopGear.com Electric Car Awards 2025, billed as a “modern reinvention that retains all the practicality and versatility of the iconic original”, while the new Renault 5 Turbo scooped another gong.

And it worked with judges, according to Paul Horrell, consultant editor at TopGear.com, who said: “The new Renault 4 is a smart little modern car in itself, recognisably different from the waves of generic looking stuff washing up in dealers all over the country.

“In the EV age, design matters more and more. Renault’s real masterstroke is to build not just one small EV but a pair of them that are great cars, going way beyond relying on their design alone.

“The R5 is already our Car of the Year but the R4 pips it – to both Best Compact EV and the big one, our overall Electric Car of the Year – because it’s got the R5’s charm but space to go with it.

“Come for the looks, stay for the value, easy ownership, smart tech and genuinely happy drive.”

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The Renault 4 E-Tech boasts boot space of 420 litres, which grows to 1,405 litres with the seats down.

Renault’s OpenR Link system is standard across the range, accessed via a 10.1-inch central touchscreen, while a 100 kW DC charger means recharging from 15 to 80% takes just 30 minutes, according to the firm.

Elsewhere at the awards, the reimagined Renault 5 Turbo 3E – a redesign of the 1980s classic – picked up the title of TopGear.com’s EV We’re Most Looking Forward To Driving In 2025.

Jack Rix, editor-in-chief of TopGear.com, said: “Lunacy is what the Renault 5 Turbo has always been about. Its raison d’être stretching back to the 1980 original is to shock, amaze, be unruly and make little sense.

“This version is following the family business using ingredients from 2025, so naturally we’re chomping at the bit to have a go.”

Only 1,980 of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E are going to be made. Picture: Renault

Two rear-mounted in-wheel motors develop 540hp in the new Renault 5 Turbo, as well as a massive 4,800Nm of torque, delivering supercar performance in a diminutive package with a 0-62 mph time of less than 3.5 seconds.

Production is strictly limited to just 1,980 individually-numbered examples – in tribute to the year in which the original Renault 5 Turbo was launched.