The 2024 Renault R5, big sister of the city car that disappeared more than 40 years ago, welcomes a mysterious number on its hood.
The presentation of the new Renault R5 on February 26 at the Geneva Motor Show amazed the large crowd who came to discover the cult car of the 80s. Flashy colors – notably yellow and pop green -, Quite futuristic LED light signature, neo-retro style likely to appeal to young and old alike, the diamond city car made in 2024 leaves no one indifferent. Especially since the little Renault, whose production stopped dead in 1992, has a mysterious black plate on its hood which arouses interest.
The R5 of the past once had a small air vent in this location which, even back then, differentiated it from other car models. This air intake has disappeared and has been replaced by a black rectangle located on the top of the hood, in line with the steering wheel. At first glance, one might wonder if the French manufacturer did not want to inaugurate a new style. But this element is not an aesthetic detail, it is in fact very useful since it has to do with the battery of the new 100% electric Renault.
This little plate is actually a charge indicator. It is used to inform the driver and any passengers about the state of the battery, whether for the 40 kWh battery or the 52 kWh battery available in the catalog of this new model expected on our roads at the start of the next school year. But there is no question of a percentage, as on our Smartphones, Renault has made the graphic choice to display the emblematic number 5 on the hood. The more charged the battery, the brighter the 5.
Made up of five segments, each of them corresponds to 20% load. When the 5 is fully lit, this means that the city car is ready to hit the road for 300 or 400 kilometers depending on the capacity of the battery chosen. If some motorists will see this charge indicator as a simple gadget, we cannot take away from the manufacturer its originality. In addition to being very visual, especially since the number 5 lights up as soon as the driver approaches their vehicle, it fits perfectly with the retrofuturistic style of the new Renault.