Paris Motor Show 2022 reveals Electric Renault 4

When you think of iconic classic cars, Renault might not necessarily spring to mind, but the 8 million selling Renault 4 is a car that has a long and successful history over more than 30 years, having first appeared in 1961 and continuing until its demise in 1994. And when the Paris Motor Show commences on 17 October, one of the more surprising must-see vehicles just might be Renault’s surprising new Renault 4 model.

The vehicle that we will get to see on October 17 won’t be the final production model, but a preliminary concept heralding the rebirth of one of Renault’s most successful vehicles. While, in the recent past Fiat has given as a new 500 and Volkswagen has given us a new Beetle, it remains to be fully seen what Renault will do with the 4 – will they follow similar lines and update a classic design, or simply take the name of a classic vehicle and use that to promote a new vehicle. The successes of the Fiat 500 and new Beetle suggests the former if Renault has any sense.

And much like the Abarth version of the Fiat, Renault has hinted that the forthcoming Renault 4 will have some race-ready sport connections, as the company says it will ‘resonate with younger generations’ and plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 4L Trophy at the Paris Motor Show. The 4L Trophy is the annual humanitarian race that traverses the Moroccan desert. Knowing this much, we can likely expect a slightly souped-up chunky-tired Renault 4 capable of desert endurance racing – the roof box in the darkened teaser images also hints at this, though no roof mounted lights are visible.

Of course, things have moved on since VW released their hugely popular (unless you drove the classic Type 1, that is) new Beetle, and now we expect new vehicles to be EV-ready for a green future on the roads. Indeed, Renault has laid out its plans for an electric future very clearly with plans to introduce up to 10 new electric vehicles by 2025 – that’s not that far into the future, so a Renault 4 production vehicle is very likely to be one of those 10. The ambitious Renault EV plan scopes for the company to have around 90 per cent of its output being fully electrically powered by 2030.

The Renault 4 is likely to sit on the company’s CMF-BEV platform, which will mean it can probably offer a range of around 250 miles or thereabouts. The 4 was all about affordability, practicality, and accessibility, and this is surely what Renault will be hoping to achieve with a newly updated version. It will be interesting to see how – or even if – Renault specifically implements the little car’s acclaimed luggage capacity and ease of loading too.

Back in the autumn of 2021, Renault revealed the prototype for the Renault 5, and not only did it look good, but it went down rather well. Following this, Luca De Meo, Renault’s Chief Executive Officer, suggested that Renault was very open to further models inspired by the past and celebrating the manufacturer’s long history. It’s looking like the autumn of 2022 will give us the next in line for Renault’s planned retro reinventions.

Images: Renault