Written by Alan Taylor-Jones and Ryan Gilmore Updated: 12 June 2025

Overview

Should you buy a Renault 4 E-Tech?

You should have a Renault 4 E-Tech right at the top of your shopping list if you want a small electric SUV. Renault has produced yet another cracking EV that troubles the class best and is priced to sell. Not content with producing one of the hottest new superminis out there, Renault has now produced a compact retro-inspired SUV to partner the impressive Renault 5 E-Tech. It’s a bit longer, a bit taller, and a whole heap more practical.

It’s also good to drive. Performance is plentiful for this type of car, with brisk but not overwhelming acceleration and a real-world driving range of around 200 miles or more during the summer. It also handles tidily with a satisfying feel to the controls, making it enjoyable to drive, if not the sportiest thing in the class. You’ll need the hard riding MINI Aceman for that. 

Perhaps we were hoping it would be a bit more absorbent of bumps and craters, although that’s not to say the 4 is uncomfortable, it’s just a Citroen e-C3 Aircross is suppler still and has a bit more rear legroom for good measure.  

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What’s new?

Renault has cracked open the history books once again for its new electric car, taking inspiration from the bestselling and tactile Renault 4 that lasted from 1961 until 1994. Called the Renault 4 E-Tech, it uses the 5’s platform but wrapped in the body of a small SUV for some extra breathing room. It’s available only with the larger 52kWh battery found in the 5 and a 150hp motor.

That gives the 4 a brisk 0-62mph time of 8.2 seconds and an official range of 247 miles. Those are competitive figures given the prices start at £26,995, usefully less than most rivals. 

Yes, the Citroen e-C3 Aircross and Vauxhall Frontera are both even cheaper, although neither can go as far or as fast as the Renault 4. Other rivals you might consider include the rugged Jeep Avenger, practical Peugeot E-2008 and the cargo carrying champion of the class, the Ford Puma Gen-E. 

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What’s it like inside?

Most of the dashboard is shared with the smaller Renault 5, which works well functionally and aesthetically. Big bits of fabric on the dashboard and door cards offset the hard plastics used elsewhere, and the steering wheel feels good to hold. In fact, it’s all rather more pleasant than most rivals costing thousands more, and I’m not sure even a MINI Aceman or Volvo EX30 feel a great deal better. 

The 4’s interior is certainly easier to use than either one of the aforementioned premium rivals. Where you have to access almost everything via the touchscreen in those cars, the 4 gets a whole row of physical heater controls, and useful icons on the screen to skip to key menus. 

Mid-spec and up cars get Google connectivity baked into the 10.1-inch touchscreen that proves easy to use if not quite as sharp-looking as MINI’s system. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard on all models if you’d rather mirror your phone, and all but base trim gets a wireless phone charger. 

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Space up front is good, with loads of headroom and seats that adjust fore and aft enough to suit the very tall and very short. Move to the rear and you’ll find more space than an Avenger or Vauxhall Mokka Electric, if not the Frontera and e-C3 Aircross. Even with the rear bench mounted much higher, headroom is still enough for a tall adult, while rear legroom is better than average for the class. 

Rear foot space is more of an issue, with the battery case causing an intrusion into the back of the footwell, forcing your feet forwards. This isn’t an issue unless your front passengers have their seats in their lowest height setting.  

The boot is second only to the Puma Gen E’s and its giant Gigabox underfloor storage. The 4 has 420-litres of space under the rear parcel shelf and 1,405-litres with the rear seats folded. This includes a 55-litre box under the centrally-split boot floor, while there are handy straps and cubbies to prevent too much cargo shift on the move. The rear seats have a 60/40 split fold and no load-through facility.

There’s virtually no loading lip, so heaving in heavy items isn’t too stressful. The flip side is the long boot lid that allows for such a low lip extrudes out a fair bit when opening, something to remember in a tight carpark. Try to push a long, heavy item in with the rear seats folded, and you’ll encounter a very large step up from the boot floor to the backs of the seats, though. A two-level boot floor would sort this, but isn’t available.

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Range and charging

The 247 mile figure quoted above will be for the most sparsely equipped 4, although even one with all the toys will officially do 241. We would expect 200 to be easily achieved in the summer based on the 4.3 miles per kWh (mpk) achieved on a mix of roads, with 25 miles at motorway speeds dropping this to 4.0mpk. 

That translates to a rough real-world range of between 208 and 223 miles during the warmer months – the mercury hovered between 20-23 degrees during our testing in both Portugal and a left-hand drive example in the UK. If it’s anything like our experiences with the Renault 5, expect a sub-150 mile range on a mix of roads in winter. 

All 4s can take up to 100kW from a DC rapid charger to give a 30 minute 15-to-80% time or 55 minutes if you’re going from totally flat to totally full. An 11kW charger is standard so you can benefit from three-phase AC charging. The four hour 51 minute 0-100% time is usefully quicker than the seven hours 47 minutes a 7.4kW wallbox takes. 

Vehicle to load is standard so you can plug a three-pin-fed electrical appliance into the R4, and you can tow up to 750kg. 

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What it’s like to drive?

The tall roof, generous ride height and boxy shape make the driving experience something of a surprise. Renault has made the suspension softer than the 5’s but not by much, so it turns in more keenly and corners flatter than you might expect. Quick, reassuringly weighted steering and predictable brakes make it a satisfying drive. 

A MINI Aceman is more agile and adjustable with a punishing ride the major disadvantage. The 4 is much more compliant whilst offering good body control, and while surface imperfections like potholes made themselves known throughout the cabin, it’s never unpleasant. An e-C3 Aircross is comfier still at the expense of handling. 

Acceleration can’t match the quick MINI or ridiculously rapid Volvo EX30, and that’s absolutely fine. The 4 feels usefully more muscular than an Avenger, Mokka, e-2008 and e-C3 Aircross and never once felt out of its depth or skittish. It’s usefully brisk off the line so busy toll booths and short slip roads proved no issue, and the 4 is also happy to whizz along at motorway speeds. 

Even at these speeds the motor’s whine barely registers. That’s partially because of the door mirrors and windscreen pillars whipping up plenty of wind noise, with coarse surfaces generating lots of tyre roar. 

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On our first drive in Portugal, we couldn’t help but take the 4 a bit off-road given the original’s utilitarian nature. The jacked up suspension prevented any unwanted thumps and crunches from under the car on some beaten up tracks, although it certainly didn’t glide over the terrain.

The limiting factor was tyres as the efficiency biased rubber struggled with a gravel incline. Tellingly, one of Renault’s display 4s wore mud and snow tyres and engineers wouldn’t rule out four-wheel drive. A 4x4 concept version has also previously been showcased, showing a more rugged version of the 4 may be on its way.

What models and trims are available?

The 4’s model mirrors that of the 5, just without the small battery and less powerful motor. That means a base Evolution will go just as far and fast as every other 4, unlike in a the 5. Equipment levels are generous too, every trim level sports a heat pump, wireless smartphone mirroring, rear parking sensors, a rear view camera and keyless entry. 

Assume you’ll pay £2,000 and upgrade to mid-spec Techno you’ll enjoy the natty illuminated grille, Google built in to the infotainment, a larger driver’s display, a wireless charger, drive modes, adaptive cruise with steer assist, all-round parking sensors and paddle adjustable regen with one pedal driving. 

You’ll get a bit more safety kit including blind spot monitoring in top spec Iconic, different alloys, and an electric tailgate. Most importantly for cold UK winters, it’s the only way to get heated front seats and a heated steering wheel. They are disappointingly not an option on Evolution and Techno trims. 

What else should I know?

A full-length electrically operated canvas roof will be optional on Techno and Iconic trims to add a bit of sun to the 4’s interior. It also usefully improves rear headroom if your passengers sit up straight. 

Continue reading for our comprehensive Renault 4 verdict on the next page, and if you want to know more about how we test cars, take a look at our explainer page.