Renault 5 E-Tech després d’un any: autonomia real, càrrega i defectes

I've been heartbroken by French fling, charming, fun, a little bit impractical, and after 12 months together, it's time to say goodbye. Let's go back to the beginning. This is just arrived. My new Renault 5 long-term test car. It arrived on my birthday. April 1st, in case you were wondering, and no, I'm not going to tell you how old I am and yes, I do know I'm an April full. Anyway, it's quite cool Bethany Prism, isn't it? So we're going to spend the next 12 months together. Four seasons, long drive, short drive, supermarket, run the school, runs, real, range testing. So why can't discover if this gorgeous little French throwback is just a bit of fun? I think it has a little more depth to it. When this arrived on my doorstep last year, I thought I knew what I was getting myself in for. It would be fun for a couple of weeks. What I didn't expect was to be quite so genuinely heartbroken when it was time to say goodbye, which sadly it is. So after 381 days with the Renault 5, I'm here to tell you the good, the bad, the brilliant, the impractical and answer the big question. Should you buy one? I thought long and hard about which spec to go for unresistated the top spec.

Instead going for the midrange techno trim, which gets a 52 kilowatt-hair battery with a claimed range of around 250 miles. With that, you get that lovely charging indicator light on the bonnet, adapted cruise control, reversing camera, and more options for body colour, contrast roof and decals. The thing that really bugs me though is that you do have to go for the top spec to get heated seats and a knock-on-alight. I have missed them in winter. So first thing you do when you get a new cart is give it a name, right? You don't! That's so weird of you. I always do. And this is Yoda. Star Wars fan and all that and of course look, the colour green. Couldn't be anything else. And I think this is where Renneau has been very clever. So this is the entry level colour. It's pop green. It has a very slight sparkle that you probably can't see because it's a bit dull today, but it shimmers in the sunlight, it's just such a lovely strong colour that you can't help but smile when you see it. The only issue I have discovered with pop green is that everybody knows where you are. So I used to get messages saying, oh, I can see you're in town, you know, what a coffee or, oh, where are you going yesterday? So if you lead some complicated double life, don't go for pop greens, not the colour for you. I had a little boy who came up and hugged it and gave it a kiss which nearly made me cry.

Also people have not done my door to ask me about it which was a bit strange. Less strange is the fact that two friends have bought one because they drove in mind with me and they loved it so much. They haven't been brave enough to go for popcorn now. Right, let's get onto some of the bands that's what you came for, isn't it? and I'm going to be very honest about space. So in the front space is actually okay. Mike, who is our electrifying human ruler, had this car for a week or two, and he's six, but four, or six, what five he's very tall. He found it absolutely fine in the front seat. However, I have carried my 16 year old son and mates in the back of this car, and they don't know if it's on a long journey. I mean, teenagers moan anyway, don't they? And they work quite moanly on this. The leg room isn't the problem really, because as you can see, leg rooms all right,

that's my driving position and it's headroom. So you're gonna have to be aware of that, but on the plus side, it does mean that my weak and employment of being an unpaid, uber driver, the teenagers, hasn't been in that much demand, and it's gone to parents who have much larger cars. So maybe I should just keep it. Anyway, somebody who really dust like it in the back of here is Ziggy. Ziggy, solo. Hi, hi, this is Sikki. Sikki loves this car because it's compact and cute like him. However, as you can see, there's no way he's going in the boot. Not much is going in that boot. So he has to have his little kind of safety carrier in here also to keep his very muddy pools off the seats. So, once you factor in that if you are a dog owner,

it doesn't leave an awful lot of space. It's absolutely fine if you've got one teenage son and one dog like me, but this probably isn't going to work as a family car, so it's worth bearing that in mind. However, I do love it that much that I actually think there's a very strong case to be said for just making the kids squeeze in and they're just gonna have to put up with it. There are a couple of other big meagles, but I'm gonna save those to the end because the algorithm demands that you watch the whole video. Sorry. So we love the R5 to look at and I love the R5 inside. I think the interior is really nice, but I do think my favorite thing is behind the wheel. It is such a fun car to drive. And as I said, I've been in it for over a year now

and I still love it every time I get in and set off. It just makes me smile if I'm having a bit of a miserable day. There's something about getting in there, it's turning it on, heading off and it's just fun and small and nippy that puts a smile on my face and you can't ask for more than that, can you? So the size obviously means it's really easy to maneuver. is very easy to park and that's something that I've really liked. Inevitably doing this job, we drive a lot of larger electric SUVs and I've spent a lot of time in the moment with the last five or six years. And it's been really fun to have a daily driver that is small and easy to park. And it's actually made me think that longer term, I want to stay in a smaller car. I don't want to go back to anything bigger. In terms of performance, it's got a lovely blend of feeling punchy and nippy, but it doesn't feel overly aggressive. It's not got too much punch. The power delivery is really solid right throughout the range. It doesn't seem to run at a puff at all, if you know what I mean. The different driving modes are really nice.

It's a little button here on the steering wheel. E-Comode does ramp it all in a little bit, but it's not too much and you can feel the difference, actually when you stick it into sport mode. It just tightens everything up a bit. I really liked the steering. It's got a lovely feel to it. It's nice and direct, it's got a bit of weight. I really don't like overly assisted light steering and this just really suits the car. And I like Be-Mode. So it's here on the gear select, so that's the regenerative braking. I do kind of wish it have the paddles that you're getting in the Nissan Micra and I suspect that those floppy paddles to give different levels of Regen will come to this further down the line, but be mode itself if I just engage it there. It's slow to down. Doesn't bring it to a complete stop. Well, it kind of does, but you just need to engage the footbrake at the end. But yeah, I really liked it. I think it's a really nice and calibrated system. I've done over eight thousand and a trouble three miles in the Renault 5. Apart from a puncture, which was fixed easily at my local garage. It is now due as service and Renault is doing that when it takes it back. Renault offers plans for the off-ides, starting at 999 a month for three years of servicing over an up to 1699 per month for four years, one MOT test and a year of extended warranty. If you pay for a one-off service, it's going to be around 200 pounds. Around the same as a

first year's service for a Renault Cleo, and I was expecting less given the lack of moving parts and oily bits. But as we know, servicing is where main dealers make a lot of their money. The Renault 5 is one of those rare cars that makes you smile when you see it. I come at the door in the morning and it makes me happy. Then I open the door and get in and the interior makes me happy. Honestly, for our vote to Renault interior design for putting so much thought into this interior, I have massively appreciated it over the past 12 months. I love the fact that there's a really good blend of switches and buttons and screens. I like the fact that some pots are colouring the screens. I love all the thoughtful touches. Oh, hello. Oh, okay. Like this, which is a middle storage box that you can you can buy separately as an accessory, which is very hundred people can do a treat. Then why are you doing go back? However, this is where I'm going to say some of the accessories are punchy. So this is I think 20 quid for the base and about 39 pounds for the cover and you can get different types of cover. And also it doesn't mean that you lose the cup holders because if it's in that you can get really cute covers for the gear selectors They're 20 quid each and of course we've got to talk about this haven't we? The baguette basket which is just joyful and wonderful and beautifully made and Actually as I have discovered over the past year is very useful for keeping much more than baguettes in it However, brace yourself it costs a hundred and twenty pounds And if you buy one, you will probably notice that the passengers' knee knocks on it all the time.

So it might not be for you. Personally, I would love to have it. However, they are also very hard to get hold of. But you want more treats. Honestly, he loves his car. Now, like I said, a couple of friends of mine have actually ended up buying Renault Fives after being driven around in mine. And they do absolutely love them. However, they both commented on the fact that the handover from the dealer wasn't that great. that great. They weren't told about things like B-Mode, for example, on the Geoselect, which of course is how you activate the Great Regeneration. They had absolutely no idea what it was until I explained it and showed it to them. And another one couldn't figure out why even on a full 100% charge, she wasn't getting anywhere near the claimed range into the battery, and that was because the battery was set only to charge to 80%. And again, she hadn't had that I explained to her. It's not really a criticism of just to Rennow dealers. Of course, there are loads of great dealers out there doing a brilliant job. But I do think there are still far too many that don't do a proper hand over on EVs

to people that are moving into them for the first time. And actually with this, one of the things I've loved about it is how easy all the EV side is to use. You've literally got a lightning bolt there. You go in there and you wear a certain and you can program your car to take advantage of your off peak overnight, lower energy tariffs, gives you the maximum and the minimum settings for batteries. So it is really straightforward. But it is important to point that out to people. Now I've done quite a few longer journeys in this. In fact, I've probably done thousands of my miles on motorway driving. I've done a couple of long trips to Cornwall. I've done a couple of long trips of North and I haven't actually embarked on that length of trip in a car with such a small battery before. And it's been way easier than I thought Renault quotes an official figure of 100 kilowatts. I've regularly seen 90 kilowatts going into this until it gets to around 65-70%. And it is one of those cars that's very easy to just stop top up and go, which I like a lot. In terms of efficiency on the motorway, I didn't have great expectations, And I've actually been pleasantly surprised. So in summer, I've regularly, I don't know, around, I've been 200 out of a full charge on motorway driving.

That drops in winter, of course. But even with colder winter weather, I don't think I've seen less than about 170 miles out of a full battery. So what's that? It's a bit down course it is. But it's kind of what we'd expect in winter. And I was prepared for it to be a little bit less. All the teams say that I am quite heavy with my right foot. I do not know what they're talking about. So maybe that is played in two those speeds I've been getting on the motorway. Although to be honest, I've actually used the cruise control a lot on the motorway and just kept it at a steady 70. And it's a really nice cruise control to operate really easy to use and yes you get it even on this sort of techno mid-trim which is good. but oh, the ADA systems. So, I really like them. They're very unobtrusive, but you are aware they are there. So the speed limit warning, you just got a little gentle beak just to remind you which are family nice.

None of it is too much. It's quite laid back. It's very French, I think. The French quite chilled and laid back art lay. And that's kind of the vibe I get from the ADA systems they're there. They're gonna remind you, but they're not gonna make a fuss. They're gonna let you get on with it. So yeah, brother, to that Renault, cause this is obviously one of the only cars that I've driven, where they haven't driven me bananas and I haven't had to search for turning them off. I've left them on most of the time. Which is good, cause like I said, we do have a slightly heavy right foot. After a year of motor or mile score runs and teenage taxidueces they are five has quietly turned out to be one of the easiest

I've lived with. Now I know where that this review risk making you seem like an alpha fungal so should we get on to the things that I really don't like about it. Right then let's talk about wind because the odour is a little windy or wind noisy. Yes when you get to anything above about 50 you do get quite a lot of wind noise creeping in over the drivers and the passenger doors at the top. Yes you can put some music on and and drain it out, but this is a little bit irritating. My only other gripe is with the gear selector. So this isn't just unique to the Renault 5, because of course that gear selector setup is across Renault's other cars as well. It is really difficult to get it into drive and reverse. You have to be very precise. You have to be completely stopped. You have to really hold it down for that extra beat. If you're in a hurry doing a 3.0 turn or quickly trying to get in and out of a parking space, It is very easy to think that you have selected reverse and you haven't used to live in drive.

And I have been caught out by that a few times. I've narrowly avoided actually hitting another car. And I know that it's not just me if you go on the forums, lots of drivers are experiencing a similar thing. Look, you do just have to be precise and you're going to have to be aware of that when you use the car. But other than those two gripes, Yoda has been absolutely joyful to live with over the past 12 months. I genuinely can't think of another car apart from the VWB for that I learned to drive in that has made me as happy as this every time I've got in it and you can't ask for more than that can you. I also think it is really good value for money for what you get. So I guess let's answer that question that I posed at the top would I advise you to buy one? Yeah. I really would. It is a cracking little car. It's clever. It transcends age groups and different demographics.

Everybody loves it. Nobody has had a bad word to say about this car. I'm going to be genuinely gutted to see you to go. The car that comes next. It's got a lot to live up to.