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Renault has released more information about its upcoming Renault 5 Turbo 3E electric rally car, and boy howdy, does it look hot as hell.

For background: auto enthusiasts look very fondly on the rally scene in the 1980s, when there was a serious arms race between auto manufacturers (particularly European ones) to make wilder and wilder race cars.

One of the most famous cars from that time period was the Renault 5 Turbo, with its iconic boxy design and chunky rear fenders which stood out even against other boxy cars of that age. It was based on the old Renault 5 hatchback, which recently got an electric rebirth of its own.

Calling on that history, Renault first showed off a 5 Turbo-inspired drift car concept back in 2022, but it was very clearly a concept – it didn’t really have an interior, for one.

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Then, this last December, Renault came back and said no, really, we’re serious – we want to make this thing, and we want to put 540hp of electric power in it. At that time, it was just renders, but now Renault has a real prototype, and is putting plans in writing as to how it’s going to bring this crazy concept to market.

Today Renault unveiled what it’s calling “the first electric mini-supercar,” with lots of extra details on what looks like eye-watering performance in an actual sporty package (unlike so many of the giant electric SUVs we keep seeing these days…).

The biggest headline specs are these: 540hp (400kW), 3,196lbs (1,450kg), 160 inches (4,080mm) long, with a 0-60 time of <3.5 seconds and a top speed of 168mph (270km/h).

Heck. Yeah.

The power is delivered by dual motors – but rather than putting them inboard on the front and rear axles, like so many EVs do, the Renault 5 Turbo 3E uses in-wheel motors, with one in each rear wheel. So this thing is rear-wheel drive, just like the original 5 Turbo.

But unlike the original 5 Turbo, which topped out at around 163 lbft (220Nm) of torque (and only after you got it up to 3,250rpm first), Renault claims the 5 Turbo 3E’s motors are capable of an absurd 3,500lbft (4,800Nm) of torque (though that number is measured at the wheels, not at the driveshaft… because it doesn’t have a driveshaft, since it’s using in-wheel motors. So it’s not really directly comparable to other vehicles’ torque numbers).

All that torque on the rear wheels means one thing: this car will surely go sideways at will. But to make that job even easier, Renault offers a truly silly giant handbrake right smack in the middle of the car’s two front (and only) seats.

And if that wild dash and seat design doesn’t do it for you – Renault says it will offer basically unlimited customization to its customers.

Along with a long list of personalization options, many of which are inspired by famous versions of the original Renault 5 Turbo, Renault designers will help customers put together these options to make each vehicle unique.

But despite all this excitement, there’s one (or, more than a hundred thousand) big downsides: it’s not gonna be cheap. While Renault hasn’t listed a price yet, rumor is that it will start firmly in the six figure range, and potentially go up to around 200,000 (Dollars, Euros or Pounds – take your pick), depending on which personalizations you select.

But even more disappointingly: there’s no good reason for us to quote that price in dollars, because like every other fun thing it’s not coming to the US. Renault plans to offer it in “several key markets including Europe, the Middle East, Japan and Australia.”

And the last caveat: even with the money, it might be hard to get your hands on one of these. Renault will only sell 1,980 examples, referring back to the year that the original 5 Turbo was introduced. So, better get chummy with your local Renault rep, cause we can’t imagine those will last long.

Electrek’s Take

In a world where EVs (and cars in general) seem to just be getting bigger and bigger, heavier and heavier, this one is finally putting us back in the right direction.

Now, of course, it’s still quite a lot heavier (+~1,000lbs) than the 1980s version, and longer too (+~16 inches). Part of this is due to changing consumer tastes, part of it is due to stricter safety standards, and part of it is because companies aren’t pushing the envelope as hard as they were in the time of Group B rally cars. And then of course there’s the battery – a chonky 70kWh for ~250mi (~400km) of range, per WLTP standards (it will also have 350kW, 800V charging, taking 15 minutes to go from 15-80%).

But it’s also one of the first times we’ve seen an actual date associated with what looks like a truly violent electric hot hatch. Renault actually put out, in writing, that they plan to get this car to road in 2027 – unlike the Mercedes EQA concept, which turned into a freaking SUV; or the Golf GTI, which we’ve heard nothing about since 2023; or the Rally-inspired Rivian R3X, which looks awesome but we’ll have to wait until after the R2 comes out first.

There are some other extant cars that you might consider an electric hot hatch – like the Ioniq 5N – but that’s more than two feet longer and ~1,600lbs heavier than the 5 Turbo 3E claims it will be, so they’re really not in the same class at all. Closer to the same class is the Volvo EX30, at 7 inches longer, ~800lbs heavier, and ~120 less horsepower. Then there are the similarly-sized Mini Cooper SE, and even-smaller Fiat 500e Abarth, but both of those pack less than a third as much horsepower at comparable weights to the Renault.

So, with the specs we’ve seen, it’s in a class of its own – at least on paper, and at least for now. Your turn, Rivian – and the rest of the industry, too. Renault looks like they’re throwing down a gauntlet and showing us what can be done, but let’s stop seeing cancelled concepts and limited-edition prestige cars, and get some more fun, small, powerful EVs – and some of us would love to see them outside of Europe, too.


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Cartoonish Tesla crashes, Toyota battery deals, and new Chinese hotness

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Cartoonish Tesla crashes, Toyota battery deals, and new Chinese hotness

ACME stock soars on today’s cartoonishly silly episode of Quick Charge, we watch Tesla Autopilot crash into a wall with a painting on it, make the Elon stans look silly when they point out shady behavior from their fearless leader, and toss out the notion that some franchise dealers might help the troubled EV brand make more sales in red states.

We also cover Toyota as it moves to position itself for global battery dominance by suppling batteries to more than 400,000 electrified Honda vehicles per year, plus an upgraded Xpeng G6 electric SUV that makes everything on this side of the Pacific look positively plebeian. All this and more, enjoy!

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

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Tesla already starts to offer 0% interest on new Model Y in China – showing weak demand

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Tesla already starts to offer 0% interest on new Model Y in China – showing weak demand

Tesla has already started offering 0% APR on loans for the new Model Y in China, showing a clear sign of weak demand.

We recently reported that Tesla is under increased pressure from competition in China, the world’s largest EV market.

The Tesla Model 3 was recently surpassed in sales by the Xiaomi SU7 in a record short period from starting production. The SU7 not only outsells Model 3 in China, but Xiaomi’s electric sedan has a 31-34-week-long order backlog compared to just 1-3 weeks for Tesla’s.

Last month, Tesla started offering a new RMB 8,000 ($1,100 USD) insurance subsidy and 0% loans on new Model 3 orders.

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Tesla didn’t apply these same offers to new Model Y orders because Tesla enjoyed more demand for the vehicle due to the launch of the Model Y refresh, and the production launch limited the supplies.

However, we also noted that reports of more than 200,000 orders for the new Model Y were exaggerated and the current delivery timelines pointed to soft demand for the new Model Y.

We noted that a good indication of when Tesla is running out of the backlog of orders, which was opened in January, for the newly delivered vehicle would be if Tesla brings back financing incentives on the Model Y.

Today, Tesla announced that it was bringing back the 0% interest loans on the base version of the new Model Y:

The Model Y RWD is by far Tesla’s best-selling car in China and Tesla is now offering up to 3 years at 0% for a 30% down payment and some discounted rates for a smaller down payment.

The incentive starts now and up to April 30. Tesla wrote:

If you purchase a Model Y rear-wheel drive version from March 18, 2025 to April 30, 2025 and pick up the car before the order expiration date according to the delivery and payment terms in the order, eligible customers can apply for the following financial preferential plans:

Tesla currently quotes “2-4 weeks” as a delivery timeline for new orders for the new Model Y RWD, and 6-10 weeks for Long Range AWD.

The Long Range appears to enjoy a bit more demand. Tesla even slightly increased the price by RMB 10,000 yuan ($1,380).

Electrek’s Take

It’s important to consider that Tesla is believed to be selling a mix of RWD vs AWD around 3 to 1 or even 4 to 1. Therefore, any change in pricing and subsidized loans to the Short Range RWD would have a massive impact on Tesla.

I have to say, I’m surprised. I suspected Tesla would have some issues selling the new Model Y in the second half of the year after some excitement for the new version wore off and competition like the Xiaomi YU7 would arrive, but I didn’t think it would come so fast.

Even if this is because Tesla was able to ramp up production of the new version faster, which could mean more deliveries in Q1, the fact that they are already discounting them is a terrible sign of demand.

I didn’t have high hopes for Tesla’s prospects in China in 2025, but even I thought this would not come for another 3-5 months.

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Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto project says it sold $550 million in tokens

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Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto project says it sold 0 million in tokens

The World Liberty Financial website arranged on a smartphone in New York, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. 

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto project said on Monday that it raised $250 million in its second token sale, bringing the total amount of coins sold to $550 million.

WLFI, a venture backed by the first family that describes itself as a sort of crypto banking platform, launched in October, weeks before Trump’s election victory. In a document published at the time of launch, WLFI said the Trump family could take home 75% of net revenue.

In Monday’s release, WLFI said more than 85,000 participants underwent so-called know-your-customer verification to gain access to the token sale. Co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of billionaire U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, is quoted in the release as saying that “WLFI is on track to supercharge DeFi,” or decentralized finance.

In January, Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun upped his stake in WLFI tokens to $75 million. A court filing the following month showed that Sun and the SEC were exploring a resolution to the regulator’s civil fraud case against the crypto entrepreneur.

WLFI is one of several crypto projects in the Trump family that are kicking off just as the president is pushing a crypto-friendly agenda. Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

According to a memo from the White House last week, David Sacks, the Trump administration’s AI and crypto czar, sold over $200 million worth of digital asset-related investments personally and through his firm, Craft Ventures, before starting the job. Sacks said in a podcast that he “didn’t want to even have the appearance of a conflict.”

At the end of February, the SEC declared that meme tokens are not securities. The announcement came after the president and First Lady Melania Trump launched their own meme coins in the days leading up to the inauguration.

WATCH: Trump’s bitcoin reserve leaves crypto investors disappointed

Trump's bitcoin reserve leaves crypto investors disappointed

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