Having rejuvenated two brilliant small cars for the electric age already, Renault has made it a hat-trick with the latest Twingo, which it promises will cost less than £20k when it lands in the UK at the end of this year.

That's a budget car price that the Twingo's design, at least, doesn't sit alongside. It looks and feels a more complete car than that. "The proportions are frankly perfect," says Laurens van den Acker, and although he might say that, because he designed it, we wouldn't disagree. "It looks like a bonbon," he says. "You could eat it." It is, we think undeniably, cute.

It looks good inside, too, with a small-outside, big-inside feel, and there's a lot of glass plus little segmentation between occupants to make it feel a bright and airy space.

There are bold and simple instruments and dials and buttons - many of them real - to add to the fact that although this is a budget car, it features some premium touches.

To counter the fact that short cars can't have generous rear accommodation and a big boot at the same time, the Twingo has separate rear chairs that slide independently of each other. And next in the thoughtful-touches stakes, the boot floor is split 50/50, so if you have, say, the charging cables in the cubby beneath, you don't have to empty the whole boot to access them.

The battery is modestly sized, at 27.5kWh, but that's perhaps inevitable for an electric city car, especially at this price.

Of the BYD Dolphin Surf, Fiat 500e and Hyundai Inster, only the Korean offering has a longer range, and its starting price is more than Renault promises.

The Twingo is good to drive too, tackling back roads with enthusiasm and fine body control, which it combines with a smooth, composed ride at odds with its lowly positioning.

So along with its feeling of solidity, the Twingo brings a sense of fun, enjoyment and involvement. In a world of grey cars with grey interiors, it's nice to find some colour being brought back to budget motoring.