Renault has found a new trick for the electric age: making a sensible small SUV look as if it has just escaped to the Riviera. The Renault 4 E-Tech Electric Plein Sud is not a full convertible, and it is certainly not as bare-legged as the Renault 4 Plein Air of the sixties.
But with a giant electric canvas roof, a 1,800 euro option with a nostalgic name, and just enough breeze to mess up your hair, it turns the reborn R4 into something warmer than another battery-powered crossover.
One square meter of sky
The recipe is simple, but clever. Renault takes the new electric 4, the practical sister of the Renault 5 E-Tech, and gives it a black fabric roof with an opening 92 cm long and 80 cm wide.
That is nearly one square meter of sky, large enough for front and rear passengers to share the open-air act. It opens or closes in about 10 seconds, either by pressing a button or by asking Reno, Renault’s digital avatar.
It can even be operated while driving at up to 90 km/h, handy when the sun suddenly appears over Brussels or a cloudburst arrives five minutes later.
What makes the Plein Sud interesting is that Renault has tried very hard not to make it silly. The car remains 4.14 m long, keeps its 2.62 m wheelbase, five-door body, 18-inch wheels, and familiar R4 silhouette.
The roof rails disappear because they are incompatible with the soft-top system, and the antenna moves into the rear window, but the overall shape remains the same.
Still useful
So does the useful bit: the trunk still offers 420 liters, including 44 liters under the floor, the loading sill remains a low 61 cm, and the rear bench plus flat-folding front passenger seat gives up to 2.20 m of load length. You can still carry skis, a cupboard, or the emotional baggage of ordering an EV with a canvas roof.
Even the holiday credentials survive. Renault says the Plein Sud keeps the 750 kg towing capacity of the regular R4 E-Tech, meaning a small trailer or little caravan is still on the menu.
That is important because Renault is not presenting this as a toy for two sunny weekends a year. Its intention is more ambitious: one car for weekdays, weekends, commuting, family use, and a little bit of wind-in-the-hair theatre.
The mechanical package is deliberately simple. Plein Sud comes with one battery and motor combination: a 52 kWh lithium-ion pack and a 110 kW electric motor, good for 245 Nm of torque, 0 to 100 km/h in 8.2 seconds, 80 to 120 km/h in 6.4 seconds, and a top speed limited to 150 km/h.
392 km of WLTP range
Renault quotes up to 392 km of WLTP range in Techno trim, with the range penalty limited to 7 km compared with the equivalent fixed-roof version. The roof mechanism adds only 19 kg, thanks to polymer roof components and a three-fold mechanism rather than the four folds usually found in similar systems.
Charging is contemporary rather than romantic. The Plein Sud gets an 11 kW AC bidirectional charger and a 100 kW DC charger. Renault quotes 4 hours 30 minutes for 10 to 100% on AC and 30 minutes for 15 to 80% on DC.
There is Plug & Charge on compatible DC stations, an Electric Route Planner that preconditions the battery and replans stops, and bidirectional charging with V2L power of 3.7 kW for external devices.
In countries where it is available, V2G can even feed energy back to the grid. In Belgium, tests with it are going on in Ghent, but until now, the legal clearance is still missing.
In other words, the Plein Sud may look like a beach car, but it also wants to be a small domestic power plant with better upholstery.
The soft-top treatment has not made Renault forget its SUV pitch. The car sits on the RGEV small platform and keeps its multi-link rear suspension.
Extended Grip adds Snow and All-terrain modes through the MULTI-SENSE settings, using traction control to help on slippery or loose surfaces. That will not turn it into a Wrangler, but it fits the R4 idea of casual versatility: campsite tracks, muddy festival fields, and gravel lanes rather than heroic off-roading.
Inside, Renault keeps the tech story rolling. OpenR Link with Google built-in gives access to Google Maps, Google Assistant, Google Play apps, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Reno can answer EV questions, schedule charging, and open or close the roof. The car also offers One-Pedal driving on both Techno and Iconic trims, an 8 kW heat pump system for cabin comfort, and up to 28 driver-assistance systems, including Active Driver Assist, driver monitoring, emergency stop assist, Safety Score, and Safety Coach.
More beach sandal than family car
This is where the new car differs completely from its ancestor. The original Renault 4 Plein Air, launched in 1968 and built in tiny numbers by Sinpar, was a Renault 4 with the roof and doors removed and most practicality politely shown the exit.
It was more beach sandal than family car, a sunny cousin to the Citroën Méhari, Mini Moke, and Fiat Jolly. It was charming, rare, and not exactly a bestseller. Today, its scarcity is part of the legend.
The Plein Sud borrows the spirit but not the madness. Where the Plein Air said goodbye to doors, the Plein Sud merely unzips the sky.
Where the sixties car competed with leisure runabouts, the new one faces a much more serious crowd: Jeep Avenger Electric, Fiat 600e, Mini Aceman, Peugeot e-2008, Opel Mokka Electric, and Ford Puma Gen-E.
Most of them can do screens, range, and crossover attitude. Almost none can do old Renault holiday nostalgia with an open roof big enough for the back seat to enjoy.
That is Renault’s real play. The company does not need the Plein Sud to reinvent the EV. It needs it to make the R4 more memorable, more desirable, and easier to tell apart in a market where many small electric SUVs are starting to look like different flavors of the same appliance.
The Plein Sud gives Renault a higher-trim lifestyle version, a summer-friendly image booster, and another chapter in its retro-electric story.
The old Plein Air was too naked for the real world. The new Plein Sud keeps its clothes on, but opens the top button. For Renault, that may be the perfect compromise: sixties sunshine, twenty-first-century safety, and just enough practicality to justify the smile.
