Renault 5 Turbo reimagined as a 500bhp electric super-hatch

On sale 2026 | Price from £100,000 (est)

Race on Sunday, sell on Monday. That’s the reason so many car makers invest in expensive racing programmes. They know the kudos generated by a chequered flag helps not only shift cars, but endows a sense of glamour that’s hard to beat.

Ferrari was built on this ethos, and it’s been crucial to more humble success stories such as the BMW 3 Series, Ford Escort – and the Renault 5.

The resulting car, the Renault 5 Turbo, and the Renault 5 GT Turbo which followed, became an icon of the hot hatch scene in the 1980s and 90s – and it’ll return in 2026, reimagined as an all-electric, 500bhp hot hatch.

Production will be capped to the low thousands, and will have a price tag of between £100,000 and £150,000. However, buyers will be offered a huge range of bespoke customisation options for the interior and exterior, meaning the price some buyers will pay could be far more.

Engineered by Renault’s performance car brand, Alpine, the Renault 5 Turbo 3E will accelerate from 0-62mph in 3.5sec; less than half the 8.0sec the regular car takes. The car’s top speed is yet to be revealed.

Significantly, the Turbo 3E will see power switched from the front to a rear-wheel drive setup in order to improve agility and driver involvement. The original Turbos and the later Renault Clio V6 had their engines located in place of the rear seats, so it seems fitting the motors in the new car will also be mounted in the rear – although in this case, they’ll be fitted in the wheels rather than in place of the back seats.

Yet while the car may bear a resemblance to far more humble versions of the electric Renault 5, almost all of the bodywork is new – and it’s completely different under the skin. The chassis is made from lightweight and strong carbon-fibre, and the twin motor setup produces a combined output of 500bhp, marking a huge increase over the 148bhp, single motor model that currently tops the range.

The Renault 5 Turbo 3E has styling echoes of the large-rumped, mid-engined Turbos of the 80s, and its motorsport pretensions are laid bare by the yellow and white paintwork, so reminiscent of Renault’s works rally cars.

Renault’s designers have evolved the silhouette of the regular R5 to incorporate wildly exaggerated wheel arches and 20in alloy wheels. The charging socket has been cleverly integrated into one of the rear air scoops.

Renault has taken the unusual step of revealing the car in a documentary, Anatomy of a Comeback, which streams on Amazon Prime from today. More information will be revealed next year.

The new model follows the reveal of the laboriously-named R5 Turbo 3E E-Tech 100% electric in 2023. That model more closely followed the design of the original Turbos than the latest Renault 5, and weighed less than a tonne, excluding batteries. The key difference is that the 2023 model was conceived as a wildly-styled drift car, designed to generate smoky donuts; the new car will be a more conventional performance car.

Read more: Best hot hatches >>

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