The new Renault Twingo loves to turn heads and take on twisty roads. We give it a try

The new Renault Twingo E-Tech is a breath of fresh air in the small full-electric car market. With an exterior design that stands out from the crowd among modern models while neatly referencing its original 1992 incarnation, the fourth-generation 2026 car brings full electrification as standard, a driving capability way beyond most owners’ requirements and a great value sub-£20,000 entry price.

The good news started when the essence of the late 2023 concept was kept on the production model unveiled in late 2025. Both give a pronounced nod to the Twingo Mk1’s key proportions and details (seen here in the guise of Sabine Marcelis’s conceptual art Twingo from 2023). The variously compromised 2007 second-generation and 2014 third-gen models have been sensibly sidestepped. The new car came with a zippy launch campaign,’Twingomania’, that emphasised its compact urban credentials.

Present and correct on the new Twingo Mk4 are the same ‘smiling’ front headlight eyes as the Mk1’s – now with semi-circular white LED strips rather than solid old school lamp units – but still with horizontal indicator lights directly beneath.

The new Twingo’s sloping bonnet and windscreen also share almost the same angle line up to the roof – like the Mk1’s – but the new model’s much bigger 18-inch wheels are pushed to the edges of its longer overall silhouette (now 3789mm versus the old car’s 3430mm).

The new car is wider and taller as well – and with a more practical four passenger doors rather than two – but retains the compactness and proportional rightness of the original sufficiently to stand beside it without the older model outshining the new.

Inside, and upfront, there is a nice mixture of analogue and digital controls. The centre screen can be a bit fiddle some – especially the navigation – but you can always mirror your mobile phone with Apple Car Play or similar, and there are also physical dials for aircon, plus a large red, round and proud hazard button that stands out against the dark middle centre fillet of the dashboard (like the old Mk1’s red button did on the centre console top).

There are neat metallic painted accents within the cabin that colour-match the exterior, plus pleasing oblong air vents with four white mini cross-shaped oblongs inside for adjusting direction. Oblong motifs abound throughout the interior and exterior from storage trays to rear bumper stops.

Debossed Twingo logos and graphics also adorn the car’s ceiling and elsewhere to reinforce the model’s specific branding beyond Renault to good effect. There’s no doubt sitting inside you’re in a Twingo, not any old Renault or indeed another car from another brand.

In the back, there are slidable rear seats, like the original, which move 17cm back and forth, to create significantly more boot room if you need it (360-1010 litres) and decent enough rear leg room if you don’t. Position either seat at its rear-most point, and a six-foot tall person can sit behind another six-footer without much trouble.

On the technical side, weight has been cut throughout, including a light and small 27.5 kWh LFP battery and various aero tricks like the pronounced vertical fin at 12 o’clock on both circular rear lights that contribute to 3-4 miles more electric range per charge cycle, due to their air-channelling benefits. That’s important because the Twingo only offers 163 miles of range in total, so every mile counts.

Unwanted safety bleeps can be easily turned off with two taps of one physical button to the side of the steering wheel and the driving experience itself is straightforward and pleasingly shake, rattle and roll-free.

Indeed, the Twingo drives better than it needs to for its expected urban and suburban customer and its ‘one-pedal’ function – a new feature on this level of car – makes driving easier still and can be activated with the lefthand steering wheel-mounted paddle with three more descending levels of regenerative braking beyond.

Overall, it’s a lovely bit of product design set to find many customers based on looks alone. Throw in solid function, zero emissions and a very competitive entry price and it could be one of the sales hits of the year.

The new Twingo goes on sale in continental Europe in 2026 and in the UK early 2027. Pre-orders are open now.

Renault Twingo E-Tech Electric, from c£20,000, Renault.co.uk, @RenaultUK