16 September 2009 - 14:00
Frankfurt show: Renault goes electric
See more Renault electric concept pics
If there's a bigger announcement at Frankfurt this year I'll be surprised. Renault President Carlos Ghosn has just left the stage after another beautifully polished, direct and no-nonsense performance - though I can't help but think the guy would make a brilliant villain in a James Bond film - introducing Renault's new range of four fully electric, zero emissions vehicles.
They are going on sale from 2011 and Ghosn left us in no doubt that the Renault/Nissan alliance is serious about its electric vehicle strategy - the Renault catchphrase is 'drive the change' and it seems it's not just fluff. 'Serious' is the word.
Renault expects that a full 20 percent of its global business will be in Z.E. (zero emissions ie electric) vehicles by 2012. That's a lot, and it makes sense when you look at their strategy: the idea is to leapfrog Toyota by admitting that Renault can't match them for hybrids, and go direct to fully-electric vehicles.
The four Z.E. cars are Twizy, Zoe, Fluence Z.E. and Kangoo Z.E. All will go into production, remember, along with a full support network of electric charging stations and battery swap points. You can charge them overnight from the mains, or in 20 minutes from a dedicated charge point. And the cars' nav systems will take you via a charge station if you need juice.
What's more, Renault promises that not one of these cars will ever be left on the hard shoulder out of energy - that the infrastructure they'll put in place will mean that a Renault service van will be scrambled to give you the power you need automatically, because they'll know you're running low and out of range of a charge point. They've thought of everything.
Twizy (pictured above) is a little city car, near-moped in size, with driver and passenger seated one behind the other. It's quick and nimble, Renault tells us, with 52lb ft of torque, which gives performance similar to a 125cc bike. It'll do about 50mph, which is fast enough for around town, and has a range of 100 miles.
I like the look of the thing and it looks like it'll be great to sit in and drive. Wouldn't want to be rear-ended by an out-of-control artic in it, but that applies to any sort of scooter or small city car anyway. One neat touch is the driver's seat, which hinges on the roof to allow the rear occupant access. Very cool.
Zoe is perhaps the best-looking of the these little electric cars and has real appeal. It's a four-seater supermini and will look very similar to this concept. Not sure the roof-hinged seats will make production, but this basic shape will remain. Zoe has a 95bhp electric engine with 166lb ft of torque. That's plenty, and will power the thing to 80mph - it too has a range of 100 miles.
Fluence Z.E. and Kangoo Z.E. are based on existing Renault production models. The petrol Fluence is the four-door Megane, with petrol versions on sale now. The electric version will be lengthened in the tail to house the batteries. This is a big five-seater car, so needs its 95bhp/167lb ft engine to deliver adequate performance.
The Kangoo Z.E. has the same engine, and again, it's an ideal city work tool, with a range of 100 miles like the Fluence - and 100 miles is enough to cover 80 per cent of journeys made in made in big cities every day, according to Ghosn.
This is all very impressive and even at this early stage, I suspect Renault has stolen the Frankfurt show. I'm looking forward to thrashing the production versions to within an inch of insanity.
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The very clever thing that these manufacturers are doing that hardly anyone is noticing is this; the reason the cars are so flimsy in this "electric future" of ours' is not because they are going to use indestructible space-age materials, but because no one will be able to go faster than 30mph. Jeremy Clarkson was right, we're getting slower, A LOT slower.
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it seems the price you have to pay for driving an electric car, is looking a complete berk.
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The littlest one could do with quite a makeover before production, but why do they all have silly names? And aren't they all going to be really expensive and not be a viable alternative to a normal car for most normal people? That's why battery cars have never caught on, and the companes aren't seeing it.
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Please, work on better petrol engines. Forget eletricity for a wile. . .
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better must mean more efficient, smallers, powerfulls. . .
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I hope anybody stupid enough to buy this thing gets immediately electrocuted. That would definitely save the planet - and save us from these idiots. Again, It also is French...
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The Twizy reminds me of the lightcycles during the Beijing closing ceremony last year. I wanted one of them pretty badly as without having any real purpose they were awesome and a street full of them would have looked sensational. The Twizy however looks like a stretched, futuristic Peel P50 crossed with a G-Wiz. Not so hot and to be seen driving one would mark you out as more than a bit of a berk. The Zoe is cute but I bet it'll look nothing like that in reality and the Fluence & Kangoo just look like their production cousins with some Tron-inspired 'leccy chintz to them, which is to say thoroughly unimpressive.
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Stupid Renault planning to introduce an electric range of cars.I much prefer the idea of hydrogen fuel cells, like the Honda Clarity, as the way forward for people who are worried about the world starting to combust, or idiots as I like to call them. Electricity is good for firing up your TV so you can watch Top Gear, not for cars.
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Yes, my friends, it's at times like these that I wish I had bought a HUMMER H1...
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Can't help wondering if any of the naysayers in the comments have ever driven an electric car. It's like commented on cake from looking at pictures, and never having eaten any. For electric car driving impressions, you are welcome to visit our blog at www.greenmotor.co.uk
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now look, i'm all for helping the enviroment, there's nothing wrong with that, but making electric cars, just dosent help at all...where does electricity come from?...Wind Turbines perhaps, hydro-dams...it's mainly power stations as i'm sure you know...electric cars don't help at all...i much like the hydrogen fuel ceel cars from japen tho...
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I don't see the point in electric cars when the electric power stations are puffing out more CO2 than Fuel powered cars - isn't it easier if the companies make cars that recycle the CO2 that is pouring out of the exhausts (the kg version) and to make it into liquid somehow? I think it could work, though the technology would have to be the extreme..
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NEEDS A V8 (BADLY!)
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all electric cars r rubbish.end of
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NEEDS A W16 BADLY. AND CHROMED WHEELS. AND A BIG EXHAUST.OH YEAH AND A BODY KIT.THERE YOU HAVE AN ECO CHAV CAR!!!!!!!!!!LOL
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eco cars make this planet cold.burn them all to warm britain up
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is it the worlds slowest,ugliest car eva
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Afaque commented on this article
15 September 2009
The fluence thing looks really good. I'ld like to see that made.... The rest are weird...
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