As a machine for nipping in and out of tight urban confines, the Twizy is unsurpassed: short (2,338mm), narrow (1,396mm) and with a black cab-rivaling turning circle of just 6.8 metres there are few places the little Renault won’t fit. Once you’ve slotted into little car park slot other drivers have had to drive past in frustration, you don’t need much room to open the doors – providing you’ve done the right thing and ticked the option box for them – because they’re hinged forwards, not outwards. They wobble a little as you open and close them, but it adds to the Twizy’s charm.

On the flip side, as a car for carrying people and their stuff, it’s less practical than the Smart Fortwo Coupe, let alone the Volkswagen e-Up and its SEAT and Skoda clones. Yes, there are two seats, but because the bodywork tapers aggressively towards the rear of the car, it’s a bit of a squeeze for adults sat there, while access to it means a decent degree of physical agility is required before ending up spreadeagled with the rear of the front seat between your knees.

If both seats are occupied, there’s not a lot of space to carry much, meaning shopping bags and the like tend to be squeezed in between limbs and bodywork. There is a bot of sorts – you get to it by removing the backrest panel on the rear seat. It’s not much bigger than your average laptop bag, although Renault officially quotes 31 litres of space. Make sure you pack very slender items. On the dash top are two lidded cubbies, one with a lock – the left one’s 3.5 litres, the right one 5.0. 

Extra storage can be obtained by paying extra for stretchy nets that are fixed to rigid points of the Twizy’s interior, but after a few months of use, they start looking baggy and unkempt. Still worth having rather than not, though.

Safety kit fitted, but not proven by crash testing

• No Euro NCAP crash test data
• You feel very exposed driving the Twizy
• Lacks most modern safety kit

Although the Twizy has disc brakes all round, a driver’s airbag, an immobiliser, a lockable steering column and a four-point front seatbelt (three in the rear), it hasn’t been subjected to a proper crash test by the experts at Euro NCAP. Nor is it likely to be due to the Renault’s official classification as a quadricycle.

In theory, accidents Twizys are more likely to be involved with should be relatively low speed in towns, but given it can reach 50mph at full chat, the notion of a frontal impact at that speed is quite sobering.

Still, it is exposed at the sides, particularly if you don’t opt for the doors, which include a protection bar for extra rigidity, so they’re worth spending the extra on from this perspective alone. Nevertheless, you do feel more vulnerable than in a conventional car, especially when the rush of air wobbles the Twizy as you pass an articulated lorry.

You do get excellent visibility thanks to the full-length windscreen that extends to above the driver’s head, while the pillars at the sides are suitably thin so you don’t get any problems when you are pulling out at acute angles, which is ideal for city driving.

Daytime-running lights are standard on newer Twizys, as dictated by the law, meaning the high-mounted tail lamps are always on. Night-time driving is quite an experience because the dipped headlamps fail to light the way ahead with sufficient brightness. The main beams are fine, although the headlamp units themselves get very hot. 

Modern safety technology such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, LED lights or blindspot alert is conspicuous by its absence.