European car manufacturers are increasingly shifting their focus from large electric SUVs to smaller, more affordable vehicles designed to navigate narrow city streets.
This strategic move comes as battery technology improves and manufacturing costs fall, allowing companies to produce compact electric vehicles (EVs) that are financially viable, reports Guardian.
The new Renault Twingo E-Tech, recently tested on the streets of London, serves as a primary example of this trend. Laurens van den Acker, Renault’s chief design officer, argued that the environmental goals of the industry depend on such models.
“The world is not going to be saved by big SUVs that are electric,” Van den Acker stated, emphasizing the need for small electric cars to become as popular as other vehicle segments.
Road transport currently accounts for approximately one-fifth of emissions in the European Union. While electric SUVs produce no direct tailpipe emissions, their larger batteries and significant bulk result in higher manufacturing emissions and greater energy consumption compared to smaller vehicles.
The Renault Twingo, priced from €19,490 in France and expected to sell for approximately £18,000 in the UK next year, enters an increasingly competitive market. Other entrants include the Citroën ë-C3, the Peugeot E-208, and the Renault 5 E-Tech, which won the 2025 European Car of the Year award. Additionally, Citroën plans to revive the 2CV name for a future small electric model.
This resurgence follows decades of vehicles increasing in size. According to Dutch government statisticians, cars manufactured in 2024 were, on average, 5% longer and nearly 4% wider than those made in 2016.
Small cars had previously begun to disappear from lineups as safety regulations and high battery costs made them difficult to produce profitably.
Smart, now a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and China’s Geely, is also returning to the compact segment with an electric version of the Fortwo called the #2. Wolfgang Üfer, boss of Smart Europe, noted high demand for the model, while Xuan-Zheng Goh, Smart Europe’s director for product, marketing, and communication, highlighted the design challenges of packaging technology into a footprint of less than three metres.
To ensure financial viability, Renault reduced the Twingo’s development time from four years to two and limited the number of parts to 750, compared to the 1,500 to 2,000 found in other cars. The Twingo features a 27.5kWh battery providing a range of 163 miles.
Beyond environmental concerns, European manufacturers are also utilizing these smaller, more stylish models to fend off growing competition from Chinese rivals. Other brands, such as Volkswagen-owned Cupra, are similarly working to shrink their product offerings.
