The budget four-door electric city car will start from the equivalent of around $33k.
The quirky Renault Twingo has been reborn as an affordable electric city car that the French brand says will boast “best-in-class efficiency” and a starting price of under €20,000 – or roughly $33,000 at current exchange rates.
The future Citroen e-C3 and Dacia Spring rival will sit below the new, all-electric Renault 5 hatchback and Renault 4 compact SUV in the brand’s line-up. It will go from concept to production in just two years – matching the speed of Chinese brands – and is slated to arrive in 2026.
The Twingo is set to offer remarkable efficiency figures of up to 6.2 miles per kilowatt-hour, and over its lifetime will be responsible for 75 per cent less CO2 emissions than the “average European ICE car” sold in 2023. It will also be made in Europe and thanks to its low list price, Ampere claims the Twingo will be available from less than €100 per month (under $167).
The new Twingo will be designed, engineered and produced by Ampere – a separate division within the Renault Group that focuses on electric vehicles for the B and C-segments of the car market, and will be producing EVs that will wear the Renault badge and sit in the company’s showrooms.
No technical details have been revealed yet, but Ampere already has a bespoke electric-car platform for B-segment models called AmpR Small (previously CMF-B EV) which will serve as the underpinnings for the new Renault 5 and 4. It seems logical that the Twingo would utilise the same technology.
Ampere will contribute towards a seven-strong European electric car line-up for Renault by 2031, which will include the Megane E-Tech, Scenic E-Tech, Renault 5, Renault 4, Twingo, and two additional vehicles. It’s also aiming to reach EV/ICE price parity by 2027-2028, with a plan to reduce variable costs for its second-generation of larger C-segment electric vehicles (Megane E-Tech and Scenic E-Tech successors) by up to 40 per cent. Ampere hopes to be selling around 300,000 EVs per year by 2025, growing to one million in 2031.
In addition to making the all-electric Renault 5 due on sale next year, along with the forthcoming Renault 4 and Twingo, Ampere will also be producing at least two models for performance brand Alpine, the next Micra for Nissan, and will support Dacia’s electrification journey, too.
CEO of Renault Group, Luca de Meo, said ahead of the reveal of the new Twingo: “In the true spirit of Renault, Ampere is engineered to make electric and connected cars affordable for all, addressing the imperatives of energy transition and seizing the growth opportunities on the market.”
He added: “the uniqueness of Ampere is based on an open and horizontal approach with best-in-class partners, ensuring low-risk, flexibility, and smart capital allocation to navigate a fast changing and competitive environment.”