Renault 5 Alpine Rendering Previews A Modern Electric Pocket Rocket

The spirit of the 1980s combined with 21st century EV technologies.

January 14 was a big and exciting day for Renault and its brands. The French manufacturer announced the return of the Renault 5 as an all-electric hatchback for the city, while Alpine confirmed it is becoming an EV brand and will develop cars in cooperation with Lotus. X-Tomi Design decided to combine the two announcements and build a virtual electric hot hatch.

Meet the Renault 5 Alpine, the ideological successor to the Renault 5 Turbo from the 1980s. It takes the R5 electric concept and turns it into a more potent zero-emission hatchback featuring the distinctive Alpine blue exterior color. A few modifications to the front fascia, larger wheels, and a lower stance are enough for the cute EV to become a mean but green pocket rocket.

In fact, this may look like a simple design exercise, but Alpine has already teased a trio of upcoming production models with one of them looking a lot like a small electric car tailored for city use. Given the brand’s performance aspirations, it won’t be a stretch if we assume a more powerful Renault 5 could actually happen. Sure, the teaser image hints at a slightly different shape for the sporty EV but nothing seems to be set in stone yet.

Unfortunately, not much is known about the production version of the new Renault 5 but one thing we know for sure is that it will be launched “at a price that many, many people will be able to afford.” This statement from Renault’s boss Luca de Meo sounds very promising and we can imagine how cool a 200-horsepower (149-kilowatt) electric 5 Turbo revival could be.

If we assume this performance Renault 5 Alpine has an actual chance of hitting showrooms, we don’t expect to see it before the middle of the decade. Renault hasn’t provided an exact launch date for the standard battery-powered hatch yet but it is believed we are at least a few years away from its on-sale date.