Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica vs Renault 4

The Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica costs £6,705 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 a 0.8s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault 4 comes out ahead overall.

The Renault 4 is £6,705 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 £6,825 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 176 miles for the Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica and 208 miles for the Renault 4 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Renault 4 goes roughly 32 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 27-30 minutes.

The two are within 15 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 619 mm of total clearance for the Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica and about 604 mm of total clearance for the Renault 4. The Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica also turns in a 0.3 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 Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica and 84% for the Renault 4. 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.