Combining the spirit of the 1980s with 21st-century EV technologies.
January 14th was an exciting day for Renault, its brands and manufacturers. The French manufacturer has announced the return to the Renault 5, an all-electric hatchback. Alpine also confirmed that it will be becoming an EV brand. They will collaborate with Lotus. X–Tomi Design merged the announcements to create a virtual electric hot-hat.
The Renault 5 Alpine is the new ideological successor to the Renault 5 Turbo of the 1980s. The Renault 5 Alpine takes the R5 electric idea and makes it a powerful zero-emission hatchback with the Alpine blue exterior. The cute EV can be transformed into a powerful, green pocket rocket by making a few changes to its front fascia, larger tires, and a lower stance.
Although it may seem like a simple design exercise at first, Alpine has already teased three upcoming models. One of these looks a lot like an electric car designed for urban use. It’s not unreasonable to assume that a Renault 5 with a higher performance engine could be made. Although the teaser image suggests a slightly different design for the sporty EV, nothing seems set in stone.
We don’t know much about the production version, but we do know that it will launch “at a cost that many, many people can afford.” We can only imagine how exciting a revival of the 200-horsepower (149 kW) Renault 5 Turbo could be.
We don’t think this Renault 5 Alpine performance will be available in showrooms before the middle part of the next decade, assuming it is a real possibility. Although Renault has not yet revealed a launch date for its standard battery-powered hatch, it is likely that we are only a few years away.