Elon can pack up and go home now.
It’s official: All other electric vehicles have become obsolete. You can forget your Lucids, your Teslas, your BYDs and Rimacs, none of them matter anymore. All shall bow and yield to their one true kind: the Renault Twingo EV.
“What’s the Renault Twingo?” You may be asking. “What’s the big fucking deal?” Folks, the Twingo is one of the internet’s supreme meme cars, and has been for more than a decade now. I remember going on 4chan’s /o/ back in high school and seeing endless hubbub over the Twingo for reasons I couldn’t quite understand. It’s pretty simple, though. The Twingo’s appeal is that he’s just a happy little guy, whose vibe can be summed up as: ^_^
The Twingo’s evolution into an EV was confirmed Wednesday at Renault’s Capital Market Day Ampere, where the company outlined its mid-term plan for its new Ampere EV division. Renault CEO Luca de Meo described the Twingo Legend concept as a “game-changer” for “urban” cars, owing to its extremely high targeted efficiency and low price.
For less than the equivalent of $21,700 (without subsidies), Renault intends to deliver an EV that will achieve 6 miles-per-kWh of energy used, or more than 200 MPGe. That’s basically double the efficiency of a Tesla Model X. De Meo said the car’s development curve aims to match the pace of Chinese EV brands, and that the Twingo Legend will go from show car to production in two years. So, it sounds like it’ll be on sale by late 2025.
No range estimate was given, but that kind of efficiency and price means the battery has to be as small as possible. I’d expect between 50 and 150 miles on a charge—it’s a city car, so it’s not supposed to cross a continent on a full battery. That’s why they have these things called “high-speed trains.” Also, note the three little tubes on the hood. Those were vents on the original, gas-powered Twingo, but for the electric version, they’ve been repurposed to display digits and a percent symbol. Renault hasn’t explained what that’s all about, though my guess is that it has something to do with state of charge.
Of course, odds are the Renault Twingo EV never makes it to the United States, even though Renault plans to sell Alpines here in 2027. The tiny hatch’s size, range, and brand would limit sales, making the cost of homologation prohibitive. A shame, because I would absolutely show up to first dates in one. Sorry fellas, but she isn’t impressed by your Hellcat—or your Dodge Charger Daytona EV.
Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: james@thedrive.com
