Renault CEO on Affordable EVs, Regulation, and Europe's Small Car Future
Everything Electric Podcast
The Fully Charged Show
4.9 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is regulation slowing down affordable EVs and can iconic small cars help fix it?! In this episode of the Everything Electric Podcast, Imogen Bhogal sits down with Fabrice Cambolive, CEO of the Renault brand and Chief Growth Officer, at Renault's Techno Centre outside Paris.
They discuss what it will really take to make electric vehicles affordable in Europe; from the rebirth of the Renault Twingo to the regulatory changes shaping the industry. Fabrice reveals that 25% of Renault's engineering capacity is currently focused on navigating shifting European regulations, arguing that greater stability (without compromising safety) would allow manufacturers to concentrate on lowering costs for consumers.
The conversation also explores the proposed M1E category for compact EVs under 4.2 metres, potentially Europe's answer to Japan's kei cars, and why Renault has decided to continue pursuing hybrids alongside fully electric models. Finally, Fabrice explains why bringing back icons like the Renault 5, Renault 4, and Twingo is about more than nostalgia and is all about trust, loyalty, and long-term value in an increasingly competitive market (ergo. China..)
00:00 Intro & Welcome
01:42 What does CEO of the Brand mean?
06:08 Why Renault is still thinking about hybrids
08:48 "Pluggable" vs. "Non-pluggable" customers
13:11 The M1E Category: Europe's answer to the Kei car?
15:43 Why regulations drive up EV costs
17:05 Why the Renault Zoe was discontinued
20:52 Reimagining the Twingo
25:24 Leveraging nostalgia and icons
32:17 Renault vs. Dacia: Managing the brand overlap
35:58 The future of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G)
41:04 Fabrice's 2026 geopolitical magic wish
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to another episode of the Everything Electric podcast where today we have a really special guest and I have my clipboard so we are at the ready. |
| 0:19.0 | But before I tell you a little bit more, if you could do us the honour of liking, subscribing, sharing with a friend, |
| 0:23.6 | or even leaving a little comment, a simple hello, well absolutely do, but it really does ensure that we can carry on coming to exciting locations like this. |
| 0:31.6 | So where are we today? Well, we are just outside of Paris in Renault's Techno centre to sit down with |
| 0:37.8 | Fabrice Campbelliv, who is the CEO of the brand and also Chief Growth Officer. And in this |
| 0:42.8 | episode, we're going to delve into the Twingo launch, the role of nostalgia and reimagining |
| 0:47.3 | icons in the electric era, Europe's K-car strategy, and why Renault thinks that hybrid power trains may still make sense. |
| 0:56.3 | That last one, I'm sure, will ruffle a few feathers in this particular audience. |
| 1:00.7 | But all of that to come, but first, a very quick advert break. |
| 1:04.6 | Our three free YouTube channels on EVs and Clean Energy Tech are funded by our fun-packed |
| 1:10.2 | test-draftastic events in the North, |
| 1:12.7 | west and Greater London, and our events down under. Next up, Everything Electric North 2026. |
| 1:19.4 | Plus check out Everythingelectric.com store for merch and much more. |
| 1:24.4 | Fabrice, thank you so much for giving up your day today to speak with me. |
| 1:28.8 | I'm going to start with the dinner party explanation because you've been with Renault since |
| 1:32.9 | 1992, you're now the CEO of the brand, and since September you've also taken on the role |
| 1:38.3 | of Chief Growth Officer. |
| 1:41.2 | But can you tell me what that actually means? |
| 1:43.1 | And if you were to describe it to non-car |
| 1:45.4 | people say at a dinner party, what would you say? First of all, I don't have so much time to |
| 1:51.3 | have dinner party, but I will try to answer to you. I think for us, after the first phase of |
| 1:59.2 | Renolution, we had to, not to do something different, but of |
... |
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