DS 3 Crossback E-Tense vs Renault 5

The DS 3 Crossback E-Tense costs £10,495 more than the Renault 5. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault 5 comes out ahead overall.

The Renault 5 is £10,495 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £144 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Renault 5 comes out roughly £10,615 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 166 miles for the DS 3 Crossback E-Tense and 160 miles for the Renault 5 - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 30-31 minutes.

The two are within 18 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 610 mm of total clearance for the DS 3 Crossback E-Tense and about 592 mm of total clearance for the Renault 5. The Renault 5 also turns in a 0.4 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the DS 3 Crossback E-Tense and 84% for the Renault 5. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.