Renault Twingo ZE, this is the new electric car from the diamond brand

The city electric car, which will not be sold in the United Kingdom, has a motor producing 80 CV and a 22 kWh battery. Renault has unveiled the new electric car called the Twingo ZE with a range of up to 230 kilometres, although the model will not be offered in the United Kingdom.

As with rival city electric cars, such as the Smart EQ Fortwo and the Volkswagen e-Up, the Renault Twingo ZE is based on an existing model with a combustion engine. The petrol Twingo was launched in 2014.

The Renault Twingo ZE uses a rear-mounted motor that delivers 80 CV and a maximum torque of 159 Nm, giving it a top speed of 135 km/h and a 0-100 km/h time of 12.6 seconds. The energy comes from a 22 kWh lithium-ion battery, and a ‘B mode’ allows the driver to choose between three levels of regenerative braking.

The car has a range of 230 kilometres on the WLTP urban cycle or 164 kilometres on the WLTP combined cycle. The battery can be charged at speeds of up to 22 kW, at which rate 80 kilometres of range can be added in roughly half an hour. Once the battery is depleted, a full recharge from a 2.3 kW domestic plug will take 13 hours and 30 minutes. Upgrade to a 3.7 kW Wallbox and that time drops to 8 hours, while a 7.4 Wallbox halves the time again to 4 hours. Renault notes that a 0-80 per cent recharge from an 11 kW charging point will take 2 hours and 10 minutes, while from a 22 kW charging point it will take 63 minutes.

Renault Twingo ZE, the new electric city car from the French brand

The Twingo ZE weighs 1112 kg and retains the same dimensions as the petrol model, with a length of 3615 mm and a wheelbase of 2492 mm.

Renault removed the Twingo from its range in the United Kingdom when the model was facelifted last year. That decision reflected the low sales volume for the model in the UK and the cost of producing right-hand-drive variants of the updated design.

The Renault Twingo ZE will be followed later this year by an electric crossover the size of the Kadjar. Described by its creator as a “supercar of the city”, the Renault Twingo ZE is the seventh electric vehicle from Renault after the quadricycle Twizy, the Zoe (now in its second generation), the Kangoo ZE and Master ZE vans, the Samsung SM3 ZE saloon sold in South Korea, and the K-ZE crossover available in China. The latter could reach Europe next year as the already announced Dacia EV, a preview of which we will see next week at the Geneva Motor Show.

Renault’s budget brand, Dacia, will unveil its first electric vehicle at the Geneva motor show, alongside a new Renault concept car called Morphoz.