Road test: Renault will have you in a Twizy

ALTHOUGH it’s premature to say that the electric vehicle (EV) has come of age, there’s one branch of the EV family that seems a good deal further along its evolutionary path. It’s the lightweight urban-specific vehicle and none represents the current state of the art better than Renault’s Twizy. The reason? It’s not even pretending to be a conventional car. Whereas many car makers start with a supermini, tear the engine out and try to find a home for batteries and such like, Renault has approached the genre with a clean sheet of paper. The Twizy seats two, is built light and can slot through gaps only a tad broader than a motorcycle with panniers. In other words, it’s ineffably fit for purpose.

Do you drive it or ride it?

Looking nothing like a car means that you approach the Twizy unburdened by expectations for it to drive like a car and it doesn’t disappoint. Yes, it has a steering wheel, a windscreen and fore-aft seating but that’s about as far as the similarities go. Unless you specify them as options, the Twizy has no doors so you can see the tarmac whizzing past, adding to the sensation of speed. You’ll also see the front wheels turning and you’ll get the wind in your hair. A bit.

Motive power comes from a 20bhp electric motor that drives the rear wheels and is mounted under the rear passenger seat. Fully charging the battery from empty takes three and a half hours, after which the Twizy is claimed to run for up to 72 miles, depending on how enthusiastically you drive. Renault quotes a top speed of 47mph which is more than enough for urban use but a couple of colleagues have seen better than 50mph. Unlike some electric vehicles that are spookily silent, the Twizy has a bit of motor whine but it’s nothing too intrusive.

The acceptable volt face

Most electric vehicles look decidedly dorky. The Nissan Leaf’s appearance isn’t too exciting, the Mitsubishi i-MIEV and its Peugeot and Citroen doppelgengers are nearer the ticket but most have had to put up with vehicles like the G-Wiz, which looks broken even before you’ve managed to crash it.

The Twizy is different. It’s something you’d want to show off to your pals. It seats two, one behind the other and is tall and narrow. Thankfully all the weight is mounted down low so it never feels as if it’s going to tip over. The ride is firm and it’ll understeer benignly if you fling it recklessly at a hairpin.

Renault will sell you a pair of optional demi-doors that open up and out, and also offer an apron that’ll at least keep your lower half dry if the heavens do open. There’s also a tote bag that stores up to 50 litres. The build quality of the pre-production version that I experienced looked surprisingly good. The clear roof panel adds to the airy feel, but its worth remembering that with no doors, the Twizy is something that benefits from secure parking.

What does it cost?

Renault is looking to charge from just £6,690 on the road for the Twizy but there is a catch. You’ll also need to pay £40 per month to lease the battery pack. This includes VAT and is on a 36-month/4,500 miles per year agreement. Over the course of the lease this totals £1,440, which means the Twizy really starts at around £8,000 for a typical three-year ownership period. That’s still not at all bad when one considers the leasing charges attached to other EVs.

Two trim levels are offered, Urban and Technic. The Urban features a driver airbag, four-point seatbelt in the front, three-point seatbelt in the rear, four linked disc brakes, an immobiliser and steering column lock, two glove boxes and closed compartments beneath the seats.

Go for the Technic and it adds carbon trim on the glove box lid, roof and scissor doors (if taken as an option), a white seat and metallic paint.

There’s just one catch...

With zero tailpipe emissions and a range of around 60 miles, the Twizy is perfect for urban commuting. You’ll need three hours and 30 minutes for a full recharge or three hours for 80 per cent charge, so if you have a place to charge the Twizy up while you’re in the office, longer commutes are a viable proposition.

The Twizy includes a charger and three-metre charging cable beneath a hatch at the front. The great paradox is that if you only have access to on-street parking at home the Twizy is a bit of a non-starter, ruling it out for many of the urbanites the Twizy would otherwise be ideally suited for.

City recharging points are becoming more commonplace but for many, this remains a significant barrier to ownership.

The Twizy is legally allowed to drive on motorways but I can’t imagine anything that would be much more terrifying than negotiating the M74 in the dark with bleary-eyed truckers bearing down on me.

Current favourite

The Renault Twizy is the closest we’ve come to a real and workable electric vehicle solution. Where it differs from its rivals is in offering the fun and manoeuvrability of a scooter with the controls, comfort and relative safety of a car. By pricing it somewhere between the two and giving it some funky styling, Renault has created a winner.

I’d have personally liked to see a scooter-sized “range-extender” petrol engine included to take the anxiety out of the Twizy’s countdown to zero volts, but Renault has stuck to the EV formula and done a great job of making the technology accessible and attractive.

Buying one is easy enough. Renault has a website at www.renault-ze.com where you can reserve your vehicle for £20. If I had a garage I’d be tempted.

VITAL STATS

PRICE £6,690 plus battery lease

PERFORMANCE Max speed 47mph

RANGE Up to 72 miles

CO2 EMISSIONS 0g/km