Jeep Avenger rival is expected to get same single 134 hp electric motor and 52 kWh battery as its Renault 5 hatch brother
https://www.carscoops.com/author/chris-chilton-cc/
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by Chris Chilton
3 hours ago
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More than a quarter of a century after the first retro boom that gave us cars like the Mini, Beetle and, er, Chrysler Crossfire, Renault is about to unveil the reinvention of some icons from its own back catalog.
In only a few days time, on February 26, Renault will pull the covers off its new 5, a modern electric hatch that owes a major design debt to the 1970s original. But threatening to steal the 5’s thunder are the images you see on this page, the very first spy shots of its big brother, the equally-retro 4.
Essentially a production version of 2022’s 4Ever Trophy concept, the new 4 is a crossover styled to resemble the massively popular car of the same name that Renault sold between 1962 and 1994. Under the skin lies the same AmpR Small EV architecture (previously known as CMF-B-EV) employed by the 5 EV and its performance cousin, the Alpine A290. While the 5 and Alpine are targeting the new electric Mini Cooper and S, the Renault 4 has its sights set on Mini’s upcoming Aceman, as well as the Jeep Avenger.
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Related: Renault’s Future Lineup To Include 7 EVs, Developed And Built In Europe By Ampere
Even with the test car’s camo wrap covering most of the body we can see that the production 4’s design has been toned down considerably since the 4Ever Trophy first hit the show circuit. It’s now lower, has door handles and the boxy fenders are nowhere near as outlandish. But the silhouette seems mostly unchanged and Renault appears to have kept the front and rear tweaks to a minimum.
We’re expecting to see a cheeky retro face under that nose camo and hopefully plenty of retro touches inside, though glimpses of the interior seen in these pictures reveal plenty of digital tech and thankfully no sign of a huge umbrella handle-shaped shift lever sprouting from the dash like the original had.
And even if the new 4 were to get that comedy shifter, it wouldn’t be hooked up to a wheezy old pushrod combustion engine. The 4 is in line to receive the same 134 hp (136 PS) electric motor up front and 40 kWh and 52 kWh battery options as its Renault 5 brother, the bigger one being good for a 249-mile (400 km) range when the crossover is revealed at the back end of this year.
