Renault has revealed a sneaky glimpse at its latest concept car that’s set to be revealed at the Paris motor show next week – it’s called the E-Space concept and it’s yet another sign that the MPV is on its way back. 

Because your eyes do not deceive you, the name is a play on the original Espace MPV from 1984 that changed the game for big family cars and invented a genre. 

Will this new car manage the same trick? Difficult to know from the outside, but no carmaker has yet nailed the potential interior wizardry that comes from the flexibility of an electric powertrain. 

The concept points to a future production model, which is interesting considering that Citroen is also rumoured to be working on an electric MPV and you’ve got the success of the Kia PV5 Passenger to look to as well. 

​Renault describes the concept as a “future-focused vision of the original”, with a particular effort made to enhance the car’s interior space and passenger experience. 

The E-Space concept is 4.7 metres long, which puts it around the size of the BMW iX3 and Leapmotor C10, so not too big. 

The front graphics on the car are a more mature take on the playful designs we’ve seen recently on the 5 and Twingo models, but still look quite fun. 

The Espace look might be quite jarring for UK audiences who haven’t seen the car on the roads since the fourth generation version of the car went off sale in 2012 – it’s now on its sixth generation in France, albeit with a much slicker SUV look and an architecture that’s heavily based on the Austral SUV. 

The current Espace has been on sale since 2023 on the continent, which could mean a next-generation model going into production around 2030.