“Some models are magic. There is no need to talk about it for weeks, everyone agrees on what needs to be done. And you do what needs to be done. When teams revive a car that has left such good memories, they put a lot of love into it. It is a good sign for the future, because the customer sees and recognises all this love in the car. With these words, Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group introduces the Renault R5, reborn electric and almost identical to the concept car of the same name presented in 2021. When it was born in 1972, the Renault 5 marked an era with its modern, non-conformist design: plastic bumpers, six bright colours and headlights that gave it a jaunty, almost human air.
It is thanks to its positioning, in line with the evolution of society, that it was able to immediately win over the French, especially women and young people, a new clientele for those times. It was a breath of fresh air, a symbol of freedom and joie de vivre. It was a wonderful field of experimentation for the design team, which adopted a deeply emotional approach in its work: that of ‘retro-futurism’. Pop colours, jaunty-looking headlamps, vertical tail lamps, sculpted mudguards, colourful roof grille profiles on the bonnet and much more: Renault 5 E-Tech Electric is a constant wink to the ‘brat’ that preceded it. The method consisted in reinterpreting, in the light of electric mobility and the 21st century, the many details rooted in the collective imagination.
The grille on the bonnet of the original model has thus been reinvented to keep up with the times. It has, in fact, been replaced by a charging indicator, the graphics of which form the legendary number 5 that lights up when the driver approaches the vehicle, in an interaction of complicity between man and machine. Another example of this humanised interface is the welcome sequence, in which pupil-shaped LED headlights appear to wink. “We took the ingredients of our collective memory and translated them into contemporary style to create the R5 of the future. We didn’t want a nostalgic or vintage Renault 5 E-Tech Electric. We wanted to arouse emotions and create a car that is crisp, energetic and pop,’ explains Gilles Vidal, Renault’s head of design. The emotion aroused by the exterior design can also be found inside.
Particular attention has been paid to driver welcome. Renault 5 E-Tech Electric therefore boasts a large 10.1” multimedia touchscreen offering a fluid, pop interface with a graphic and sound welcome sequence designed in collaboration with Ircam (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique / Musique) and Jean-Michel Jarre. The artist, composer and author, a pioneer of electronic music and technology enthusiast, also developed the on-board sound environments and the VSP (Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians), an external sound emitted by the electric vehicle when travelling at less than 30 km/h to warn pedestrians. The full design story of the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric will be in Auto&Design no. 266.
