Renault's sub-$21,000 Twingo EV will be developed with a Chinese partner

Oh, how the tide has turned. Chinese companies used to partner up with European ones to get access to their technology, but nowadays in the EV space it's exactly the other way round. For example, Renault today has announced that it will develop the upcoming Twingo EV in partnership with an unnamed Chinese engineering company in order to "improve development lead time and costs", according to a Renault spokesperson.

The Twingo should cost below $21,000 when it launches in the next few years, and Chinese companies' expertise in developing cheap EVs is very obvious. BYD plans to offer its Seagull model for under $21,000 in Europe next year.

This partnership aims to teach Renault how to move more quickly on EV development, according to "people familiar with the situation". One of those people added that while engineering in China isn't necessarily cheaper than in Europe, it's where most of the current EV technology breakthroughs are coming from.

This comes after the news from earlier this month that a partnership between Renault and VW to jointly develop an affordable version of the Twingo fell through. Following that, VW went its own way and will develop a cheap EV by itself, while Renault turned to this yet-unnamed Chinese partner, although it now says this decision came independently of the VW fiasco.

The "styling" and "advanced engineering project" is being done in France, and production will be in Europe, according to the aforementioned Renault spokesperson.

The Twingo EV was first announced last year, and it's most likely going to be built in Slovenia, where the current Twingo is made as well.

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