Renault Boss Confirms 500 hp BEV Special on TV Documentary

Renault announces a super-tuned version of its new battery-electric Renault 5, claiming rear wheel-drive and 500 hp, will be brought to market.

The announcement is made in a documentary detailing the automaker’s recovery from potential financial collapse in 2020.

The model draws heavily on the styling from the "golden years" where souped-up Renault 5 Turbos competed in the elite World Rally Championship in the late 1970s.

Renault’s new BEV version, dubbed the Renault 5 Turbo 3E, was first revealed as a concept at the 2022 Paris auto show.

It sports the historic colors of one of the rallying versions of the early 1980s to blend retro looks with futuristic design, featuring quirky assets such as a charging socket in one of the rear air intakes. It also boasts a carbon fiber superstructure to reduce weight and increase chassis stiffness.

Its rear-wheel-drive comes from two electric motors mounted in the rear wheels and the model claims a 0-to-62 mph (100 km/h) sprint time of 3.5 seconds.

The 40-minute documentary, Anatomy of a Comeback, available on Prime Video, tells the story of how Renault turned itself around from near-collapse to become a profitable company in four years.

Cameras follow Renault CEO Luca de Meo, brand chief Fabrice Cambolive and design head Gilles Vidal on a visit to the design department to see the future Renault 5 Turbo 3E, with de Meo confirming the BEV as an upcoming production model.