The Twizy is Renault’s bold attempt to redefine 21st century urban driving. And it’s one of the most talked about cars of the year, attracting numerous stares, questions and reactions from passers-by.
At just over two metres long, this two-seat fully electric vehicle starts at £6,690, with our range-topping Technic £7,400. It’s powered by a 17bhp electric motor, claims a range of 62 miles and can be charged in three and a half hours from any 230V socket.
So is it a glimpse into our motoring future? And could it be the first of many basic electric commuter vehicles? Most importantly, does it work in the real world? We put it to the ultimate commuting test: going from Cobham, Surrey, to our central London office – a 25-mile route with almost every type of road and traffic condition you’re likely to encounter on a normal day.
We wanted to find out how the electric Renault fared in the key commuting criteria of cost, comfort, journey time and driving enjoyment. But we also wanted to give it some competition, so we picked three very different modes of commuting transport.
Taking on the Twizy is our reigning Car of the Year and the best affordable city car you can buy: the £7,630 entry-level Skoda Citigo. The £5,699 Piaggio Yourban is a funky three-wheeled scooter you can ride on a car licence, plus we tried London’s public transport options, too. So, which one emerged as the king of the rat race?
We set out to put the Renault Twizy through a proper, real-world test. So is it the perfect solution to the urban commuting problem?
In short, no. It’s well engineered, clever and fun. In a Utopian city filled with other Twizys, it would be great. But it’s not able to nip through traffic like the scooter and can’t rival the space, comfort and enclosed cabin of the Skoda. Still, it’s great for short trips in decent weather. Despite the bone-crushing ride, it’s a lot of fun to drive.
Yet it finishes second to the Citigo. Parking and the Congestion Charge make driving costly in London, but for elsewhere, the only vehicle here capable of carrying four in comfort over a theoretically limitless distance is our winner.
The scooter is the ultimate traffic-beater and great value, but it’s not for everyone, while the cost, convenience and speed of public transport vary greatly depending on your personal circumstances. And it can’t give you the independence of the other options here.
Winner: Skoda Citigo ★★★★★
Proving basic cars can be great, the Citigo is fun to drive, frugal and cheap to run. It’s exceptionally well built and costs only £940 more than the Twizy. Even taking into account fuel and tax bills, that’s a clear win for the baby Skoda.
We admire Renault for making the Twizy, and it’s a great concept. But it’s held back by its limited range and the ongoing cost of battery hire, as well as its ride and practicality limitations.
The scooter is undeniably the best way to get through traffic, plus cheap to run. But it’s also the most exposed to the elements. Even though you only need a car licence, we’d recommend doing your CBT first.
The speed, price and ease of public transport vary depending on where you live and work. For our commute, it was a slow and costly choice. Generally, it doesn’t offer the privacy, comfort and flexibility of your own wheels.
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What! A VW group product comes first in an AE comparative test. Who would have thought of it. Actually, you might be right this time
Renault Twizy.
The car for Twonks!
Obviously public transport varies around the country, but my son (a bit of a petrol-head) and my daughter/son-in-law (who travel together) have all come to the conclusion that public transport is by far and away the cheapest option.
Parking charges are the killer factor. Plus convenience - the public transport stops are much, much closer to where they work than the car parks.
And they continue to run cars for non-commuting. With the Citigo, etc, this would be a commute only car IN ADDITION to a real car. Hence purchase cost, loss of interest, depreciation, maintenance, insurance, fuel, tax, parking.....
I think you need to assess the costs more realistically, Auto Express
I am a Twizy owner! Live on top of a mountain in the Brecon Beacons (deep rural). Done a 800 miles so far in 6 weeks. All journeys under 20 miles. You do not get wet as the driver even in high winds and gales. Very warm in sun so needed no windows anyway. Certainly a crowd puller and fun to drive. I think this is not an urban car but one for the country where we spend our lives doing short journies with one or two people. Slashed my motoring bill - my other car is a Defender.
The idea of the comparison is to identify which method is the best choice for urban commuting. While I agree that the Citigo is probably the overall best choice in the test for urban commuting, its argument for winning, "the only vehicle here capable of carrying four in comfort over a theoretically limitless distance is our winner", is entirely pointless. The majority of commuters do so alone, so the four seats of the Citigo are mostly just extra size and weight to be carried around. Added to that, most daily urban commuting is of a distance less than 31 miles, which means a round trip in the Twizy is perfectly possible and the scooter and public transport theoretically have a limitless range too, cancelling out that part of the Citigo's argument. The price difference between the Twizy and the Citigo make the Citigo a much better car for the money and the extra room is likely to be a deciding factor over the Twizy. This should be a fair test of urban transport methods but it appears too car-biased. The Citigo has far from revolutionized urban commuting as the Twizy is attempting to do, it took the same basic recipe car manufacturers have followed for years and came out with this new slight variation of the original idea. The Twizy, scooter and public transport can't be discriminated against because they didn't follow the same recipe as car manufacturers, they are all unique forms or urban commuting. The Citigo should win this comparison of urban commuting purely on being an excellent form of urban transport, not just because its the only real car in the test.