Ooh la electric!
The iconic Renault 5 subcompact, once sold in the United States as Le Car, is slated to return as a battery-powered vehicle.
The French automaker unveiled the 5 Prototype at an event on Thursday, outlining its future plans for electric cars. Along with its hatchback profile, the car reinvents several features of the original, including turning the engine’s air intake on the hood into a loading door and adding a fabric-finished roof that echoes the large retractable fabric available in the first 5.
Renault is targeting a launch date of 2023 for a production model, but has not released details about the expected range and price.
With regard to availability in the U.S., Renault currently does not sell cars here and is not planning an imminent return, but you can still buy an electric Le Car … if you can find one.
US Electricar also offered a 4-door Lectric Leopard based on the Fiat Strada
(David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
From 1979 to 1980, the US Electricar company offered a Le Car conversion that it called the Lectric Leopard, which replaced the four-cylinder engine with an electric motor that moved the wheels using the Le Car’s standard four-speed manual transmission. It drew power from a six-volt 6-volt car battery pack, like used golf carts, however, and had a range of less than 50 miles per charge and a top speed of just 55 mph, which was legally so fast. how much cars could drive at that time.
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It is unclear exactly how many were made, but they occasionally appear in classified ads, often with batteries upgraded to 12 volts or even modern lithium-ion cells.