This restaurant Renault 5 has a modern electric engine and a digital gauge cluster that was built just for it. The 22.0-kW battery has a range of about 50 miles, even though it looks good and has a lot of power. The entire project is said to have taken four days to complete, with the final result being showcased on French television last year. Picture this: You’re sitting outside of a cute French café with your second cup of coffee of the day. When you’re done with your coffee, you go to your cute red and yellow Renault R5 GTL restaurant. The 30 miles to your house are nice. Good luck! You forgot that your R5’s small 22.0-kW battery has a 50-mile range when you are in a hurry to get to the coffee shop. In any case, it’s cute. The small battery is supposed to be because France requires cars that have been converted from gas-powered to electric vehicles to keep their original weight. The change took four days and used a “Retrofit” EV switch kit from French conversion company R1 that had already been approved. This conversion is really worth its weight in gold inside. The historic interior has a digital set of gauges that looks like the original analog ones but has a retro finish. The software company Incari, which made and ran the system, says that all of the problems were fixed in about eight weeks. The project has a great spirit, and we think it would be a great way to move things around town. Just watch out for how far you walk to get your baguettes. You can only go fifty miles, after all.
