The Electric Vehicle (EV) thread Vol 20 - Xileno

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Edited by Xileno on 08/09/2025 at 19:38

The Electric Vehicle (EV) thread Vol 20 - SLO76

Had the opportunity to sit in the new Renault 5 and it’s slightly bigger stablemate the R4 at the Airshow over the weekend. Renault really are on a roll at the moment, the 5 in particular is a lovely thing, only limited rear leg room and some poor quality exterior trim mark it down. The R4 is nice, but SWMBO didn’t approve. Not that I’d buy a new car anyway, electric or not, but a bright yellow R5 does really appeal to me.

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Edited by Xileno on 08/09/2025 at 19:41

The Electric Vehicle (EV) thread Vol 20 - mcb100

The contrarian in me prefers the Pop Green Renault 5, but it doesn’t come in the top Iconic spec because of what would be a fairly lurid interior/exterior clash…

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Edited by Xileno on 08/09/2025 at 19:52

The Electric Vehicle (EV) thread Vol 20 - Xileno

I don't think the R4 will be the success the R5 is, it looks a bit odd but then I was never a fan of the original R4. The R5 in yellow is a brilliant decision, a throwback to the mid-engined rally car of the 80s. Not so sure about the inflated price for the colour though.

The Electric Vehicle (EV) thread Vol 20 - paul 1963

Drove past my local Kia dealership today, big sign announcing a new range of electric commercials, the one pictured looked very Transit like.

The Electric Vehicle (EV) thread Vol 20 - mcb100
Whilst I’m still not 100% convinced by electric vans taking trades to jobs up and down the country, for ‘last mile’ activities, EV has to be the best solution. Quiet, zero tailpipe emissions, easy to drive, lots of benefits.
I’m keeping my eye on a new start up called Flexis, actually a collaboration between Renault and Volvo. They’re developing a range of modular light commercial vehicles that make the most of electrification, rather than existing vans that are compromised to some extent by being based on multi-fuel platforms.
The Electric Vehicle (EV) thread Vol 20 - primus 1

As an ex service engineer, if I’d have had an electric van, I would spend more time charging than actually working…

The Electric Vehicle (EV) thread Vol 20 - Terry W

At a guess that there is a huge range of usage patterns in different trades and businesses.

Those who routinely travel up and down the country, possibly making several calls each day, would find anything less than 200 miles range a constraint. Probably includes service engineers with a large "patch", specialist contractors etc.

Those who operate locally with customers/clients within 10-20 miles (or less) of base + the occassional visit to Screwfix etc could readily function with a range of 100 miles - includes many small builders, electricians, gardeners, delivery services etc.

Area makes a big difference - urban (city/town) vs rural. Living 10-15 miles from central Bristol/Bath, based on simple observation, most vans seem to be local or at most Bristol/Bath based for whom a fairly limited range would be workable.