The 5 gets two power options in the UK; 148bhp and 121bhp. The 4 will only receive the most powerful option. As much as 85% of the demand for the 5 in the UK is for the 148bhp version, and Renault is banking on the same for the R4.
Like with most EVs, power isn’t a problem. The 0-62mph time of 8.2secs proves there’s a good bit of grunt off the line, and you can get the traction control to kick in at low speed under full throttle in the dry at low speeds.
Accelerative pace slows down once you’re past motorway speeds but you’d be hard pressed to find any Renault 4 driver who would be bothered by that. There’s a good deal of wind noise off the wing mirrors at these speeds too, acting as a slight deterrent.
The R4 is the first Renault to feature one pedal driving. It has paddles behind the steering wheel that change the brake regen. There are four different levels, the strongest offering a Nissan-like one-pedal solution.
There are the usual array of drive modes that affect throttle response. So far so normal. But in the R4 there’s a quirk.
In Eco to get past 115kph (71mph) you need to push past the little ‘golf ball’ often found at the bottom of a throttle pedal. And you need to push past it hard. If you keep even 75% throttle it won’t accelerate. Cruise control won’t go past 115kph in Eco either.
So if you’re in a 100kph zone, then it changes to 120kph, you’ll need to switch out of Eco in order to increase your speed.
