The Renault 5 Turbo 3E looks like a concept, but you can actually buy one

It’s no secret that high end, high performance electric cars are a tough sell these days, but Renault doesn’t seem to be put off. In spring this year, it’s bringing a radical electric interpretation of the iconic Renault 5 Turbo to market. Called the Turbo 3E, the new model promises supercar levels of performance and a huge dose of fun to go with it, being a 533bhp rear-drive hot hatch built for track driving – and drifting. 

Despite looking like a fantasy concept, the show car in these images is very close to the final production car, which will go on sale in spring with first deliveries scheduled for 2027. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but is touted to be significantly below that of a conventional supercar – Renault names the Lotus Emira (£89,500), the Caterham Project V (sub-£80k) and the Nissan GT-R among the Turbo 3E’s potential competitors, although there’s currently nothing like it on the market. 

That’s because the Turbo 3E is a highly bespoke electric hot hatch that shares almost nothing with the base Renault 5. The exterior mirrors, door handles, tail lights, windscreen (albeit cut down) and the infotainment system are the only major shared components, with the Turbo 3E getting significantly widened, redesigned carbon bodywork and a unique aluminium EV platform. At 4.08 metres long and 2.03 metres wide, it’s as short as a supermini but the width of a supercar. The final design will see minor tweaks to improve aero performance, but by and large, what you see here will reach showrooms. 

Like the original 5 Turbo, the 3E is rear-drive, but its source of propulsion couldn’t be more different. Being an EV it swaps the classic’s midship turbocharged four-pot for batteries and motors, with a 70kWh pack mounted in the floor powering a pair of rear e-motors with a combined 533bhp. In a first for a production EV, these are in-wheel items mounted within 20-inch rims and forming part of the sprung mass of the car, with the suspension pick up points and arms (double wishbones all round) reinforced and the dampers tuned accordingly. They supposedly provide even more instantaneous response than a conventional EV drivetrain and no transmission losses, and allow for torque vectoring across the rear axle. 

The engineering of the Turbo 3E is being carried out by Alpine, despite the car wearing a Renault badge. Reducing weight has been key in its development, with the 3E tipping the scales at 1450kg – about the same as a Honda Civic Type R – with a 47:53 front-to-rear split. That helps it achieve a 3.5sec 0-62mph time and a 168mph top speed, with 249 miles available from a full charge. 

Part of the Turbo 3E’s brief is to perform several hot laps on track between charges, with 20 minute sessions followed by 20 minute recharges. Thanks to an 800-volt architecture, the peak charging rate is 350kW which tops up the battery from 15 to 80 per cent in 15 minutes, with vehicle-to-grid and external device charging available too.  As well as being capable of fast laps on track, the Turbo 3E has a wilder side, accessed via a drift mode and hydraulic handbrake. 

Inside, you’ll find elements from existing cars (a steering wheel borrowed from the Alpine A290 and the R5’s dual display panel, for example) baked into a redesigned cabin architecture. There’s a new dashboard, door cards with fabric pulls and a high central tunnel sprouting a vertical handbrake lever. 

The seats are carbon buckets with six point harnesses, and the driver is presented with a digital dash display that mimics the original 5 Turbo’s square dial pack. You also get a boost button marked OV (for overtake) on the wheel, as well as a switch to cycle between four regen modes and a button to change from Snow, Regular, Sport, Race and the aforementioned drift mode. Being a strict two seater, the Turbo 3E features netting and a half cage behind the seats, and a surprisingly generous luggage area (made possible by the compact in-wheel motors). 

Customers will be able to personalise their cars from the paint livery and interior upholstery, with the option of securing a specific build number from the 1980 production run. Pricing hasn’t been disclosed yet, but whatever it costs, the Turbo 3E so far seems every bit as mad and intriguing as the original 5 Turbo – we can’t wait to drive it.