Renault Twin’Z Concept previews 2014 Renault Twingo

The Renault Twin’Z Concept, designed by British designer Ross Lovegrove, is an electric city car previewing the 2014 Renault Twingo.

The Renault Twin’Z Concept is a small, just 3623mm long, urban runaround with a small electric motor good for 67bhp and 167lb/ft of torque  and weighing in at 980kg, complete with a fairly sophisticated double wishbone suspension and relatively long wheelbase with a wheel at each corner stance.

The Twin’Z is very much a concept car - designed by British designer Ross Lovegrove – and comes complete with the usual concept fripperies like electric suicide doors, cameras instead of rear view mirrors, sweeping LED lights, a solid crystal rear spoiler and big, complicated alloys.

The engine sits in the boot – well, the 67bhp electric motor does – and drives the back wheels with the batteries sitting under the floor, and even though it has just 67bhp it should be reasonably quick with a sub-1000kg weight achieved by using carbon fibre body panels to offset the weight of the EV’s batteries.

But what the Twin’Z does is preview the next generation Renault Twingo – which is expected in 2014 – when we’ll see that too using an engine in the boot and driving the rear wheels thanks to a platform that will be shared with the new Smart.

The new Twingo will doubtless lose the almost empty interior, huge wheels and suicide doors when it arrives, but it will come with an electric drivetrain option as well as conventional ICE engines.

How much it will cost as an EV we don’t know, but Renault will have to pitch it below the Zoe EV to make it marketable. That will probably mean a list price of around £12k, but with an extra £70 or so a month for the batteries.

We could also see Renault offering the new Twingo at just £4k – plus another £70 a month for an engine.

Just to keep the pricing structure consistent.

By Cars UK