FRENCH KISS(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 40

Renault's new-era electric Twingo citycar offers nostalgia for a new age. Pretty but practical, light but large inside, funky and fun, it offers something altogether more desirable to those rather bored by the current selection of budget-priced small EV hatches.

Background word count: 178

The European motor industry, battered and bruised by the Chinese invasion, is fighting back. For proof, check out this car, Renault's achingly cute little Twingo. The first really small, really cheap European electric car with genuine desirability built-in. This is almost the first time a European car maker has delivered a completely new model to a super-tight Chinese brand-style timetable - just 100 weeks in this case from concept to production. Obviously, 'completely new' doesn't mean that every component has been developed from scratch - that would be pointless and expensive - but the Twingo is new in every sense that really matters. Yet, like its larger Renault 5 and 4 showroom stablemates, draws on its brand's back catalogue of combustion models for its design inspiration. In this case the original Twingo of 1992 styled memorably by Patrick Le Quement. His successor, Lawrence van den Acker, has reinterpreted that car's unusual look for the electric era but the charming shared visual heritage has been transferred intact. But is it all style over substance? Let's take a closer look.