Renault 5 vs Skoda CITIGOe iV

The Renault 5 costs £2,540 more than the Skoda CITIGOe iV. For that premium it adds 30 miles more WLTP range, 40 kW faster peak rapid charging and 76 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault 5 comes out ahead overall.

The Skoda CITIGOe iV is £2,540 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 Skoda CITIGOe iV comes out roughly £2,500 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 160 miles for the Renault 5 and 134 miles for the Skoda CITIGOe iV - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Renault 5 goes roughly 25 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 31 minutes in the Renault 5 and 60 in the Skoda CITIGOe iV, so the Renault 5 loses less time at each stop. That makes the Renault 5 the stronger long-distance car.

The Skoda CITIGOe iV is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 163 mm narrower than the Renault 5. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 755 mm of total clearance for the Skoda CITIGOe iV and about 592 mm of total clearance for the Renault 5. The Skoda CITIGOe iV also turns in a 0.5 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 5 and 84% for the Skoda CITIGOe iV. 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.