You already know that we love the new Renault 5 – it’s our affordable electric car of the year. Well, now there’s another new Renault 5, although it’s not so affordable… 

Meet the new Renault 5 Turbo 3E; a 540bhp, rear-wheel drive, all-electric supercar that takes inspiration from the original 1980 Renault 5 Turbo and the later Turbo 2. And I've been out to have a look around it, so do watch the video!   

Design and dimensions

The French manufacturer did show an even more extreme concept car leading up to this, at the 2022 Paris motor show, but nobody expected it to go into production. Yet, here we are, with Renault promising that it will make 1980 examples of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E. The car was revealed in a Netflix documentary titled ‘Anatomy of a Comeback’ that follows Renault’s turnaround from near-collapse pre-2020, to today’s healthy brand.

Not much of the Turbo 3E is actually related to the new Renault 5 hatchback. If you want a usable, everyday performance version of Renault's brilliant little electric hatchback, you'll be wanting an Alpine A290. The Turbo 3E is another thing altogether... Built on a bespoke, carbonfibre platform at the company's Dieppe factory, it's a supercar-meets-drift car spectacular, and only 1980 will be made, so expect it to be something of a collector's car. 

Watch Ginny's Renault 5 Turbo 3E video, right here

It weights 1450kg in the pre-production form that we've seen it in (although Renault's engineers are hoping to shave even more weight off before it reaches the final production car form), and is just over 4.0-metres long yet is 2.0-metres wide across those blistered rear arches. That's a proper supercar width, and shows just how squat and wide the Turbo 3E is. 

I think it looks absolutely brilliant. The dramatic rear diffuser, the huge, Pikes Peak-style cues... All of it is there to improve aerodynamics and performance but you also can't miss the references to the new Renault 5 E-Tech and to the original Renault 5 Turbo models. As ever with ultra-prestige, limited-run supercars like this, the Renault 5 Turbo 3E will be very customisable. You'll be able to choose the colour, the livery and much more, so if you want to have your family crest emblazoned on the roof, you most certainly can.  

Range and charging

The Renault 5 Turbo 3E gets a 70kWh battery, which powers two rather revolutionary electric motors that are mounted in the rear wheels. We don’t yet know what battery will be used in the Renault 5 Turbo 3E, but we do know that Renault is working on having cell-to-body battery tech in its vehicles within the next few years, which sees the cells being placed directly into the car’s body for better weight- and structural rigidity; rather like we see with BYD’s electric cars, today. For an aspirational collector’s car like this, it seems more than likely that Renault will roll out its latest, lightest and most energy-dense batteries. The company remains tight-lipped on details, though, and nothing's been confirmed.

As for range? Well, Renault hasn't confirmed the Turbo 3E's WLTP range specifics, yet, so watch this space and we'll update you as soon as we hear more. However, we do know that the 5 Turbo 3E will be able to charge at up to 350kW courtesy of 800V tech, which means that you'll be able to get a 10-80% charge in around 15 minutes. Cleverly, the CCS charging port is hidden in one of the vents down the side of the car. 

Performance

Despite the vast 540bhp power output and a frightening 'theoretical maximum' torque output of 4,800Nm of torque, the Turbo 3E is rear-wheel drive only - there's no four-wheel drive version, either. There's even a hydraulic handbrake, which is the favoured tool of any drift specialist and rally driver. That'll be good for a 0-62mph time of under 3.5 seconds, which is firmly into supercar territory. Having said that, the Renault 5 Turbo 3E isn't about straight-line pace. That rear-wheel drive layout, the hydraulic handbrake, the downforce from all that aerodynamic-led styling, the massive rear tyres... The Turbo 3E is all about handling; specifically track-use and drifting. Yes, it'll be fully road legal, so you can drive to the shops in it. But it's really an electric competition car for the road, and I think that sounds like brilliant fun. 

​As Sandeep Bhampra, Renault’s Chief Designer Advance Design, told Electrifying: the Turbo 3E is “a drift champion. And the dimensions are key to the design, too. The body is over 2.0-metres wide, so it’s supercar width. It also has the performance to back that up.”

Interior design

The pre-production Turbo 3E car that I looked around didn't actually have an interior, but Renault has confirmed the specifics. We know that this three-door supercar will get a couple of racing bucket seats and a roll cage, but there'll also be space for a few bags in the luggage space at the back of the car, and the dash will be very usable, too. Expect to have the steering wheel from the Alpine A290, a touchscreen with Google software built-in, and physical climate control buttons. 

How much will the Renault 5 Turbo 3E cost? 

There will be only 1980 examples of the Turbo 3E produced - as a nod to 1980 being the year that the original Renault 5 Turbo was launched. Of course, that means that it's going to be rare and very much in demand... And that means that it won't be cheap. Pricing hasn't been confirmed, but when Electrifying got the chance to speak to company bosses at an early reveal of the Turbo 3E for European Car of the Year jurors, they hinted that it won’t be cheap. “The original Renault 5 cost 33,000 francs, while the 5 Turbo cost 115,000 francs,” said Bruno Vanel, VP of Renault Product Performance, “so you’ll have to wait and see what this one will cost.” Hmmm. I reckon we'll be lucky if it costs under £150,000 - and I wouldn't be surprised if it comes in at closer to £200,000. We'll just have to wait and see!