Renault Twingo goes electric, bringing clean, compact, urban mobility

Of all the cars that you'd think should go electric, the Renault Twingo is probably top of the last. The compact design makes for practical urban car, making it a popular choice across Europe. Now equipped with an electric drive system, it probably makes more sense than ever before.

Using expertise that Renault has harvested from the Zoe, the new Twingo ZE gets a rear-wheel drive system, allowing lots of manoeuvrability, with a tight turning circle of 4.3 meters. This sort of agility - along with the short 3.61 metre length - makes it idea for tight urban streets. 

The motor offers 60kW (equivalent of 82hp) with 160Nm torque to see you sprinting off the line, delivered silently and with 0 tailpipe emissions. The Twingo ZE will hit 50kph (30mph) in around 4 seconds with a 135kph top speed meaning it can keep up on the motorways. 

There's a 22kWh battery - which isn't huge - but Renault says that you'll get 250km (143 miles, WLTP city) from it, which will drop to around 180km (102 miles) on the full WLTP cycle, which is more likely to be the average. The argument is that this easily covers the average commute in Europe and a smaller battery helps reduce the weight and the cost of the car.

It will support charging at up to 22kW, so while it doesn't have the fast charging of some of the latest models, it also doesn't have a huge battery to charge either. On a typical 7.4kW wallbox is will take 4 hours to charge fully, from a 2.3kW wall socket it would take 13.5 hours. It has a Type 2 socket. 

The Twingo ZE clings on to quirky design on the exterior and on the interior offers four seats and a full range of connection options and entertainment. There's a 7-inch touchscreen with support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can connect up your phone and stream your music or use navigation services like Waze or Google Maps. 

The Renault Twingo ZE is one of a new generation of compact electric cars, going up against the likes of the Honda e.

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