Following in the footsteps of the Renault 5 Turbo and Turbo 2, the company with the diamond logo is revising the hot hatch for the inevitable electric era. Just like the Porsche Taycan, the car without a combustion engine gets the name “Turbo”, followed here by “3E” to signify it is the third in the line and has an electric drivetrain. Basically, the concept is a high-performance derivative of the Renault 5 Prototype we saw early last year.
The rad show-off looks almost ready to star in Cyberpunk 2077 and boasts a rear wing that you can see from a mile away. Just like its petrol-fueled predecessor, the new R5 Turbo 3E has a rear-wheel drive layout. Renault installed two electric motors – one for each wheel at the rear – and placed a 42 kWh lithium-ion battery in the center under the floor. Doing so harks back to the mid-engined layout of the Turbo and Turbo 2.
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The technical specs are as impressive as the ultra-aggressive styling. The French marque says the pair of electric motors produce a total of 375 horsepower (280 kilowatts) and 700 Newton-meters (516 pound-feet) of torque. It’s muscular enough to 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in three and a half seconds and a top speed of 124 mph (200 km/h).
The Renault R5 Turbo 3E sports 19-inch front wheels and 20-inch rear wheels and weighs 980 kilograms (2,160 pounds) before you add a massive battery pack that weighs 520 kg (1,146 lbs). You end up with an electric hot hatch that weighs 1,500 kg (3,306 lbs), which isn’t too bad in the grand scheme of things. To fully charge the battery, it takes about two hours with the 380V/32A charger.
Built on a tubular chassis, the electric concept features an FIA-approved roll bar and a dedicated Drift Mode, complete with the essential upright handbrake lever. To capture all the action as you move sideways, the R5 Turbo 3E has no less than 10 mounting brackets for the camera that can be mounted inside and out.
Its chunky body is 2.02 meters (79.5 inches) wide, which is actually 25 cm (nearly 10 inches) larger than the Turbo 2, giving it an impressive easel concept. It stretches at 4,006 mm (157.7 in, including rear spoiler) and stands 1.32 meters (52 in), with a wheelbase measuring 2.54 meters (100 in). The front tires are 225/35 R19 while the fat rear tires are 325/25 R20.
Renault will showcase the R5 Turbo 3E next month at the 2022 Paris Motor Show. While there are no plans to put the concept into production, the company’s Alpine performance division is working on a sporty derivative of the electric Renault 5.
