Mobilize, Renault Group’s sustainable mobility arm, has announced further details of its Duo and Bento urban electric vehicles ahead of their UK arrival.
Revealed at the Paris Motor Show as the successor to the Renault Twizy and a rival to the Citroën Ami, the Duo two-seat electric quadricycle and its Bento microvan counterpart have been developed by Mobilize in response to the challenges of moving people and goods in and around cities.
They’re expected to open for UK orders in early spring 2025 with sales beginning before the summer.
Prices will be confirmed at that point, but are expected to be from around £9,300, rising to £9,999.
Both can be driven on either a B1 car licence or an A1 motorcycle licence.
The Duo quadricycle features a compact 2.43m long and 1.3m wide footprint. It’s available in two versions: an 80 Evo variant aimed at retail drivers and an 80 Pro version for business users and shared mobility operators that gets easy fleet integration options including Smart Sharing, Geofencing and the Battery Charge Inhibition remote immobilisation tool. Both variants have a maximum speed of 50mph and a range of around 100 miles on the WMTC standard for quadricycles.
The Duo 45 Neo light quadricycle, which has a top speed of 28mph and can be driven licence-free in some European markets, will not be available in the UK.
The Duo cabin is available with air conditioning, Bluetooth, heated driver’s seat, heated windscreen, USB-C port, and comes with 300 litres of storage.
The Bento utility version comes with just a single central seat, an adaptable 649-litre cargo box and load capacity of almost 1m3. Its compact 2.54m long footprint and 87-mile range makes it ideal for city centre deliveries while a turning circle of 6.8m enables agility. As with the Duo, it’s available with airbag, USB-C port, Bluetooth, heated driver’s seat and heated windscreen.
Supporting plans for rental and vehicle sharing possibilities, the Bento and Duo use digital keys to access and start the car. The ‘MyDuo’ mobile app can be used to generate up to six digital keys, a first for Renault Group.
The 10.3kWh NMC battery is adapted from the Renault 5 E-Tech and can charge from 20% to 80% in just under 3.5 hours with a Type 2 socket.
Vertical opening ‘gullwing’ doors also allow occupants to easily exit to either left or right.
Both are designed to be eco-responsible, with a simplified production process that includes over 40% of recycled materials. At the end of their life, they are at least 95% recyclable.
The recycled TEP fabric for the seats can be washed down with a sponge or even a hose, with a drain plug under the pedals.
Duo and Bento will be available through selected outlets in the Renault network around spring 2025.
