The Renault Twingo is back: But can the electric 'Le Frog' match the much-loved 90s original?

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Youth, they say, is wasted on the young. That’s because too much of the really fun stuff in life is simply out of reach for younger people struggling to make their way in the world and lacking the finances for it.

Only when they get older can they afford some of those things they yearned for in their younger days - when they really would have appreciated it more.

Well Renault’s new Twingo super-mini turns that equation in its head. Because fun stuff is suddenly more affordable.

I spent two days whizzing around in the perky new all-electric five-door Twingo supermini on one of the world’s most famous party islands and I can tell you straight - it is brilliant fun with a vibrant vibe.

It’s not big, it’s not particularly fast, it’s not flashy, and the electric range is adequate.

But it looks cute, oozes character, drives well with lively acceleration, proved exceptionally nippy around town, is so nimble it turns on a sixpence, is easy to park, has a bright and breezy youthful character, demonstrates remarkable attention to detail, has a tendency to surprise and delight, and truly brings a smile to your face.

The new Renault Twingo 'has a tendency to surprise and delight and truly brings a smile to your face', says Ray Massey as he drives the little EV on launch

Indeed the headlights are designed to look like smiling eyes, with the area below resembling a smiling mouth, and there’s a welcoming light signature on start up.

And it won’t break the bank - with prices set to start from under £20,000.

Renault bosses described the pricing as ‘affordable but not cheap.’

Great things come in small packages.

Fitting too that the French car-maker chose the Spanish party island of Ibiza (albeit off season) with its renowned club scene as the venue for the international lunch of a car which exudes fun and is cool to chill-out in. 

So when the Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera track ‘Moves like Jagger’ popped up on the Spotify play list (through the very impressive hi-fi system) I was so chilled that while singing along I was mentally throwing shapes in the Pacha mosh-pit. 

Or was it ‘dad dancing?’

Renault has nicknamed the cheap EV, which costs under £20k , 'Le Frog'. It launches under this name in its UK marketing campaign. 

Bonjour ‘Le Frog’

Twingo is affectionately nicknamed in France ‘The Frog’ - and UK bosses are to use that fact - ‘playfully’ they said - to launch the French car in the UK with a ‘Le Frog’ themed campaign featuring cars in Absolute Green - one of six colours available including Absolute Red, Mango Yellow, white, grey and black.

The impressively tight turning circles of just 9.87m makes it highly manoeuvrable and ideal for city driving.

Measuring just under 3.8m in length means it fits easily into parking spaces and the 1.7m width gives you a fighting chance of opening the doors once you’re parked too.

Its agility is helped by its light weight of just 1,200kg using a chassis that cannibalises and exploits the front of the award-winning Renault 5 and the rear of a Captur.

The new Twingo is the fourth generation of the super-mini which has clocked up more than 4.1 million sales in 25 countries since the original launch in 1992. That first-generation car was never officially sold in the UK. 

Nevertheless, there are still more than 240 personal imports still registered with the DVLA. 

The second generation Twingo arrived in the UK in 2007 selling 20,000 before the third generation landed in 2014 adding 12,000 to the 32,000 UK total.

For the new Twingo there are two trim levels: evolution and techno.

The evolution trim includes as standard the sliding individual rear seats, 7-inch driver display screen. 10-inch infotainment screen and cruise control.

The techno trim adds one-pedal driving, a reversing camera, and heated seats , plus Google built in with all the trimmings including access to Renault’s vice-activated virtual assistant called Reno.

The interior is a big selling point with a 7-inch driver display and 10-inch infotainment screen

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Attention to detail

Inside it has a simple but very clever interior set-up. The trim may feel a bit plastic to the touch but the overall effect is cheerful without being cheap.

I was also most impressed by the attention to detail. 

The lettering for the Twingo name spelled out on a plate on the passenger dashboard takes its cue from letters inspired by Playstation and GameBoy games. 

The colourful carpets, roof lining, and air-vents also reflect these playful ‘Twingo alphabet’ graphics.

The drive-shifter stalk has a cover - inspired by a lipstick holder - whose design can be personalised. And the red hazard warning light button is designed t look like a boiled sweet.

The streamlined exterior styling is also functional and includes a fin on top of the rear lights to direct air, and the rim around the rear window to prevent ‘estate car effect’ drag. 

The rear side-windows pop out on a heavy-duty spring hinge to let air in, saving space and cost.

Punching above its weight

Powered by a one-size only 27.5kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery enabling a compact lightweight 60kW (82hp) electric motor, Twingo’s acceleration from rest to 62mph is a fairly adequate 12.1 seconds, but will hardly set the world alight. 

However, it is the sprightly sprint from rest to 31mph in 3.85 seconds that is more important here as this gives the car its nippy zippy feel around town and operating like it is punching above its weight.

Similarly, the top speed governed at 80mph may seem low, but it’s 10mph above the legal speed limit and perfectly sufficient for the job in hand - so why would you want or need more.

Add to that the four levels of regenerative braking set via a switch on a steering wheel stalk. 

Although level 4 is officially the ‘one-pedal driving’ mode, I found level three to be my preference for letting the car brake itself while also generating electric charge for the battery.

The claimed 163-mile range is not huge but with a fair wind it’s enough to get from London to Sheffield on a single charge.

The claimed 163-mile range is not huge but with a fair wind it’s enough to get from London to Sheffield on a single charge

But realistically this is a city suburban runaround whose natural habitat is in urban heartlands, shopping trips, school runs, trips to the countryside to see friends and family, or to go off partying. And for these tasks it is ideally suited.

The car has 24 advanced driver assistance systems including many that are more often seen on larger cars, such as adaptive cruise control, safe exit alerts warning of potential danger from other vehicles for occupants leaving their cars and rear cross traffic alerts.

A ‘my safety switch’ allows the driver to hit one button to activate - or switch off - any driver alerts they want or find intensely irritating.

Boot space of 350 litres increases to 1,010 litres with the two rear seats folded flat. The 50 litres of underfloor storage is accessible via a special fap, even when there’s luggage up top

Space invader

Boot space of 350 litres increases to 1,010 litres with the two rear seats folded flat.

The 50 litres of underfloor storage is accessible via a special fap, even when there’s luggage up top.

Anther flexible friend is the ability of the two rear independent seats to moved backwards or forwards by up to 17cm - either to accommodate things in the boot or to increase space for individual rear passengers.

As a result, the rear feels fairly roomy with Renault pointing out that Twingo’s cabin space rivals the segment above, with 160mm of rear kneeroom and 1,305mm shoulder width.

Add to that 19 litres of cabin storage including 3.6-litre central console, two 1.8-litre door compartments, a hand-height cubby for phones, and rear seat pockets.

Special anchor points allow accessories to be fitted as part of Renault’s innovative ‘YouClip’ range - including a 3D-printed USB cable reel, a foldable shopping bag, and a luggage cover.

Twingo’s rivals include the Fiat 500e, Hyundai Inster, Citroen eC3, and BYD Dolphin Surf

Power to the people - if the lights go out

With the prospect of an energy crisis and power cuts looming, there’s another benefit to Twingo.

It’s 11 kW AC/50 kW DC charger not only allows charging to 80 per cent in just 30 minutes, its bi-directional vehicle-to load (V2L) capability means that if there’s a power outage, Twingo (like its sibling Renault R5) can power domestic 220V appliances in your house up to 3,700W.

One quirk is that there isn’t a specific ‘Park’ mode on the drive stalk - which might leave you wondering if the car is actually parked. It’s a quick shared by the award-winning electric Renault R5 and R4 models too.

But there is a parking brake and, as a fail-safe, the car automatically and cleverly goes into park mode when you take off your seat-belt or open the door.

I’m also betting most buyers will lose the special plastic key needed to access the screen washer disguised on the bonnet.

Renault UK managing director Adam Wood confirmed Twingo would cost from ‘comfortably under £20,000.’ UK order books don't open until autumn

Form an orderly queue

One other downside is that you will have to be patient as UK order books for the right -hand driver version won’t open until Autumn ahead of first customer deliveries in January.

However, for £100 potential customers can sign up for Renault’s ‘R-Pass’ service which grants priority for ordering and delivery, as well as access to other information and benefits.

Twingo’s rivals include the Fiat 500e, Hyundai Inster, Citroen eC3, and BYD Dolphin Surf.

Designed in France and assembled in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, there was also significant input from Chinese EV and battery specialists ACDC which meant that the production cycle could be slashed to just 24 months.

Renault UK managing director Adam Wood confirmed Twingo would cost from ‘comfortably under £20,000.’

‘We’ll have a lot of fun launching Le Frog in the UK’.

As with the award-winning Renault R5, two thirds of whose UK customers are private buyers spending their own money rather than their company’s, he expected a similar proportion for Twingo.