Renault Twizy successor confirmed for UK

Renault will bring the two-seat electric Duo from its Mobilize mobility brand to the UK, the company has confirmed.

Mobilize will launch the Duo in the second half of next year as part of a wider expansion of its mobility businesses across Europe and other markets.

The Duo – effectively a successor to the Renault Twizy – will be targeted primarily at car-sharing businesses either owned by Renault itself, including Zity, or other operators looking for low-cost vehicles. Renault did not say which schemes would offer Duo first.

Renault has previously said the Duo would be available on subscription, but it’s not clear that would be aimed at private customers.

“Duo is a breakthrough for car-share operators,” Fedra Ribeiro, chief operating officer for Mobilize, said at a Mobilize presentation on Tuesday. She promised it will cut operating costs by 35% compared with a standard four-seat car.

Car-share business where the vehicles are free-floating are hard to make money on, and earlier this month, Mercedes and BMW sold their joint ShareNow business to Stellantis after years of losses.

The Duo will become the Renault Group’s “first software-defined vehicle” when it launches next year, Ribeiro promised. Mobilize has engineered the Duo with a sophisticated computing platform that will help both operators and customers, the company said. “We have to make sure they have an exceptional experience,” Ribeiro said. She promised a seamless process “in finding the car, charging the car, even having fun”.

Mobilize will bring “gamification” to the process, she said, without elaborating. Mobilize will unveil the interior of the Duo at the Paris motor show in September, promising a “different experience”.