One of the most bespoke, unique, and truly ridiculous cars offered by any automaker is the 540 horsepower Renault 5 Turbo 3E. It’s a rear-wheel drive electric Rally-style hot hatch built by the company’s cousins at Alpine. Reservations are open and, oh, wow, it costs $180,000.
That’s a lot of money. Specifically, that’s 911 Carrera GTS money. Will anyone cross-shop these two cars? Probably not, because anyone with even a small amount of joy and taste can buy a 911 Carrera GTS. Only a bonkers person with an unquenchable thirst for life and extremely low self-preservation skills would buy one of these.
What makes it special? The Renault 5 Turbo 3E gets a pair of in-wheel electric motors producing a combined 536 horsepower, good enough for a claimed 0-to-62 mph time under 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 167 mph. That’ll help it keep up with (and pass) similar EVs with AWD.
Because this is an EV, I suppose I should talk about range. Expect about 248 miles from the 70 kWh battery pack. Because you’ll want to take this to the limit like Don Henley every time you drive, the 800-volt architecture will support 350 kW DC fast charging.
In addition to the high price, there’s also a catch. These things won’t be available until 2027, which means the early reservation holders are helping finance the production of the car as well.
“We are proud to have succeeded in involving our dealers, as well as the first customers, in the pre-financing process of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E. To achieve this, we have implemented an innovative reservation scheme, befitting this exceptional vehicle, an major image vector for the Renault brand,” said Ivan Segal, Global Sales and Operations Director, Renault Brand. “On one hand, it allows customers to secure a priority order reservation within the network from today. On the other hand, it helps us finalize the development of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E and launch the first units in 2027. The Renault 5 Turbo 3E could not have come to life without this entirely new process, which demonstrates Renault Group’s ability to innovate in the marketing schemes of extraordinary projects.”
I’ll probably pick this up in my review of the Corolla GR, but with a car like this, you’re not paying for the stuff, precisely; you’re paying for its existence.
If you’re in Europe, the Middle East, Japan, or Australia, you can go ahead and put in your order. In fact, if you live in one of those places and have been unsure about what to do with the roughly $180,000 sitting in your bank account, I insist that you do.
Top photo: Renault
In the words of Renault Australia themselves:
“The release of the 1,980 vehicles is being tightly managed worldwide by Renault SAS, and Renault SAS requires that a non-refundable down payment of €45,000 be paid to secure a production slot.”
so in Todays Money, an original Renault 5 Turbo was $114k USD
11,945gbp -> 2.33 usd/gbp exchange rate average in 1980 -> $27,831 -> 2025 $114k
It’s cheaper than a super low miles minty original R5 turbo. And it’s easily the raddest electric car on sale
This is gonna sound crazy… but I… kinda… it’s kinda worth the money… if you win 50 million dollars
This describes me perfectly, unfortunately I’m in the US, and more importantly, could never come close to affording a car like this. I am still glad it exists though!
How is this an “innovative reservation scheme”?
Oh, it’s a scheme, alright…
Because marketing people have no morals.
Because there isn’t a market for morals.
With Mexican tags you can drive it in the US for a year, right? Is there a waiting period for it to reenter? And does that apply to all countries? (St Pierre et Miquelon is drivable via regular ferry service and has Renault dealers.)
If 180K is too steep for you, then I got a $9000 ticket to the Congregation of Electric Renaults : The Dacia Spring / Renault K-ZE / Dongfeng EX1!
150mi range, 45hp, 75mph max speed; think some of you here would have the know-how to import one of these as an LSEV and dodge those tariffs. Got mine pre-owned for $5000 in China and loving it so far
Fuck this car.
These might be Show and Display eligible so that range might be perfect for a year of driving here.
This would be the perfect little kind of stupid but not totally stupid purchase someone could make. Something like the bay area would be perfect for this, because it is electric, it is eclectic and it is exclusive.
Delivery in 2027. Do you have to ante the full price upfront or drop some meager deposit like 50 grand?
If money were no object, I would order two of these. Mr. Hardigree says that I should this money instead on a Porsche, which isn’t a bad idea, but there’s just something so visceral about this French car that makes my knees go weak and I can’t explain it. I’d be a frigging Bill Lumbergh if I drove a Porsche, but the Renault simply speaks directly to my soul and whispers “drive me you idiot, die happy”.
Let me be clear: definitely get this over the Porsche. I was saying “extremely low self-preservation skills” as a compliment.
I am working on a vehicle to fill that niche. Rear wheel top speed, unloaded, with field weakening:
https://i.imgur.com/5jBfRKC.jpg
132 mph! It was spinning around 2,300 rpm and made all kinds of funny noises like it was going to explode and embed shrapnal in my face and all over the living room walls!
https://i.imgur.com/V63misc.jpg
Without the body, it will probably only do 70 mph or so with the current 10 kW, thanks to aerodynamic drag. I was doing donuts with it this Sunday and it was terrifying to operate. I only took it to a bit over 45 mph or so, but it had a lot more in it to give.
Looking forward to getting the front motors on. Lacing some 16×1.5″ 32 spoke DOT rims around them. With AWD, I’m going to push 25 kW to the three motors.
It’s any wonder that I made it to the ripe old age of 47… either that or the Grays that created me spliced some cat DNA into me so that I actually have nine lives.
Small point: that 248-mile range is on the more optimistic WLTP cycle, so the EPA number would be around 215…
And driving it like it’s meant to be driven means more like 100.