- Renault reveals the interior of the 2026 Twingo E-Tech electric city car.
- Unlike the exterior, which is a clear homage to the 1990s original Twingo, the interior has less personality.
- The Renault Twingo E-Tech has a target price of under €20,000 ($20,500) and it’s set to arrive in Europe next year.
When automakers want to revive a classic model’s design and reinterpret it in a new modern car, they usually pick vehicles from the 1960s through the 1980s, but hardly any choose to revive models from the 1990s. Renault has done precisely the same so far (reviving the Alpine A110 and the 5 and the 4), but it’s also taken the bold step of reimagining the first Twingo, launched in 1993.
The Twingo was a hugely popular two-door city car that kept selling well and stayed in production until 2007—around 2.4 million were delivered. It was restyled three times during its production cycle, but these minor facelifts never really changed much. Take one look at the Renault Twingo E-Tech, which is just a prototype for now, and you will unquestionably know that you’re looking at a Twingo.
Photo by: Renault
Photo by: Renault
It not only retains the original’s overall body shape but the outline of its headlights and rear lights has also been kept, albeit in a stylized form using LED strips. It has also grown an extra set of doors to allow rear passengers easier access into the back, but Renault has opted to hide the door handles in the C-pillars, so it still looks like a three-door hatch at first glance.
While we have known about the Twingo’s electric revival since 2024 and Renault has already shown the exterior, the manufacturer only recently revealed what it will look like inside. The original had a no-frills, basic interior with a centrally mounted digital instrument binnacle and a separate one with warning lights in front of the driver and very simple controls. The hazard button, placed atop the dash above the central air vents, was a semi-sphere, and I always thought it was the cutest of its kind in any car—I still do.
Frankly, seeing how faithful the new car’s exterior is to the original’s design, I expected Renault to have some recognizable elements inside. However, there are none. It looks like the Renault 5 E-Tech’s interior, with the same 10.1-inch central display and an additional 7-inch screen in front of the driver. If there were ever a time that I would have forgiven a manufacturer for not including a separate driver’s display, it would have been in a reborn Twingo.
Renault touts the future Twingo’s comfort and practicality, which are arguably more important characteristics than resembling the original. The shape of the seats and the style of their upholstery hark back to the original, as does the body-colored panel that runs across the dash, complemented by additional body-colored trim pieces on the doors.
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One really cool feature is its rear bench that not only folds to enlarge the trunk but also slides to increase rear legroom. There’s also a panoramic glass roof, which doesn’t open, but it looks huge in the press photos, and it should significantly improve the interior ambiance, especially for people in the back.
The Twingo E-Tech will debut in 2026, with a target base price of under €20,000 ($20,500). It will sit below the 5 E-Tech in the Renault lineup as a more affordable, less posh alternative. However, it still has an unusual, eye-catching design that will win many buyers, especially for the price. The design alone elevates it way above similar-price rivals like the Dacia Spring or the Leapmotor T03, so if Renault keeps this design for production and doesn’t make it too expensive, it should be a hit.
