Renault 4 vs VW e-Golf

The VW e-Golf costs £3,650 more than the Renault 4. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. The Renault 4 is not just cheaper - it also offers 131 miles more WLTP range, 60 kW faster peak rapid charging and 79 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault 4 comes out ahead overall.

The Renault 4 is £3,650 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 4 comes out roughly £3,770 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 71 miles for the VW e-Golf - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Renault 4 goes roughly 137 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 30 minutes in the Renault 4 and 22 in the VW e-Golf, so the VW e-Golf loses less time at each stop. So the Renault 4 stops less often while the VW e-Golf stops for less time - pick on which you would rather do.

The two are within 3 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 601 mm of total clearance for the VW e-Golf.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Renault 4 and 84% for the VW e-Golf. 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.