New Renault 4 Plein Sud: small SUV blows its top with folding canvas roof
The Renault 5’s bigger sibling, the R4, is now available with an electrically folding canvas roof
Summer is almost here and it’s being marked by the arrival of a new ‘convertible’ version of the electric Renault 4, which is available to order now for R Pass customers. The R4 ‘Plein Sud’ gets a canvas roof that can be electrically folded at the push of a button and went on sale in France a few days ago.
In the UK, prices for the Renault 4 Plein Sud start from £27,445 – £1,500 more than the hard-top R4 – including the £3,750 Band 1 Electric Car Grant. From launch, the Pleid Sud will be offered in two trim levels, with base techno+ models getting all the essentials. This includes twin 10-inch screens, dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control and a reversing camera.
For an extra £2,000, iconic+ adds heated houndstooth seats, a heated steering wheel, a Harmon Kardon sound system, a powered bootlid, blind-spot monitoring and an illuminated R4 logo on the dashboard. All R4 Plein Suds also get a unique 18-inch alloy wheel design.
In case you were wondering, “Plein Sud” translates from French to “Directly South”, in reference to the best direction for maximum sun exposure. How much sun exposure? Well, the R4’s canvas roof provides an 80x92cm opening and can be operated via a toggle switch above the windscreen or even using Renault’s ‘Reno’ voice assistant. To make room for this mechanism, Renault has removed the R4’s SUV-like roof bars, as well as the antenna.
There have also been other small concessions in terms of practicality. For example, while Renault says there has been “minimal” impact on rear-seat headroom, this does suggest that the folding roof slightly restricts the cabin height. And although every version of the R4 uses the same 52kWh battery, range is also down a little from a maximum of 247 miles in the hard-top, to 242 miles in the Plein Sud. Boot space remains the same at 420 litres, though.
As mentioned, the R4 Plein Sud is available to order now for those who have signed onto Renault’s R Pass scheme – effectively a queue-skipping service which, in the case of the R4, costs £150. Other customers will be able to place their orders from 14 May, with first UK deliveries arriving in Q3 2026.
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