Renault 4 vs Suzuki e VITARA

The Suzuki e VITARA is £946 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 Suzuki e VITARA comes out roughly £866 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 208 miles for the Renault 4 and 162 miles for the Suzuki e VITARA - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Renault 4 goes roughly 46 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 30 minutes in the Renault 4 and 45 in the Suzuki e VITARA, so the Renault 4 loses less time at each stop. That makes the Renault 4 the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 4 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 604 mm of total clearance for the Renault 4 and about 600 mm of total clearance for the Suzuki e VITARA. The Suzuki e VITARA 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 Renault 4 and 90% for the Suzuki e VITARA. That gives the Suzuki e VITARA a modest edge in retained real-world range. The Suzuki e VITARA's LFP-type pack tolerates daily 100% charging, while the Renault 4's NMC-type pack lasts longest kept to about 80% for everyday use. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.