► Renault’s ‘hydrogen hybrid’ concept car
► Previews next-generation Scenic for 2024
► Powertrain could make production in 2030
Just a few months ago Renault previewed the new hydrogen-powered Renault Scenic Vision concept – and now our spy photographers have snapped the next-generation MPV testing. However, there appears to be one key difference between this car and the angular vision revealed earlier this year; this one looks to be an electric vehicle.
What does it look like?
The prototype you see here was snapped in southern Europe; Renault engineers begin to crank up the development as production nears. The car you see here ais wearing a decent amount of camouflage, but you can still tell it bears a strong resemblance to the concept previously shown last year. Take a look at the front lights and the overall shape of the vehicle and it’s pretty much a 1:1 version of what we’ve already seen.
However, CAR understands that this car won’t feature the same novel hydrogen powertrain as the car Renault showed us last year. Instead, this will be called the Renault Scenic E-Tech EV by the time it hits production. When release it’ll run on the same CMF-EV architecture under the Megane E-Tech and the Nissan Ariya andwill be offered with both front-wheel and all-wheel drive. That means a single or dual motor set up with close to 400bhp – if the Ariya’s figures are anything to go by.
All you need to know about the Scenic Vision concept
The new concept car has an interesting theoretical powertrain under the skin. The brand says the new Scenic Vision is a ‘one-of-a-kind’ hybrid car that acts as both an EV and a hydrogen fuel cell car.
Wait, what? A hydrogen hybrid?!
According to Renault, yes. A single electric motor drives the rear wheels, making 215bhp – so far, so normal – powered by a 40kWh battery pack that’s under the passenger cell floor. Renault says the e-motor is derived from the one used on the Megane E-Tech Electric, and the new battery pack (which claims to be smaller, lighter and cheaper to make than current batteries of a similar size) will be built at the Renault Group’s new ‘ElectriCity’ battery Gigafactory in 2024.
But here’s where it gets interesting. There’s also a hydrogen tank and a 15kW fuel cell purely designed to keep the battery charged – effectively making it a hydrogen range extender, not a hybrid. Renault says (in a very ideal world, towards the end of this decade) that having a hydrogen fuel cell on board can massively extend the range of this Scenic Vision and make it much quicker to recharge/refuel on long journeys – given hydrogen fuelling takes about as long as conventional petrol/diesel fuelling. Renault claims up to 500 miles of range from the new concept after using a full charge of the battery and a full tank of hydrogen.
Renault says the car can be driven without using the fuel cell at all, with the car’s route planner determining when the hydrogen fuel cell will kick in to keep the battery topped up. The fuel cell will also help keep the battery at an optimal temperature in cold weather.
It certainly looks sharp…
We’re thinking Cyberpunk chic. The bodywork is all blacked out, for a start; ‘we use black pigment coming from extracting CO2 from the atmosphere,’ said Renault design director, Gilles Vidal, ‘it creates a dark grey powder that we use here with no other pigments whatsoever.’
There are elements of Renault’s earlier Morphoz concept here, including its horizontal headlights and triangular DRL signature. The silhouette is very similar to that of the Megane E-Tech Electric, completed by some wild wheel designs. The design is ‘anticipating what the next Scenic will be – a legendary product for Renault,’ Renault Group CEO, Luca de Meo, said at the ChangeNow conference revealing the new concept, ‘this will be the design of the car that will come out in 2024.’
Inside is where it gets really wild, though. A yoke-like steering wheel, wraparound screen inset into the very edge of the dashboard and small square screens giving the driver quick-access information like range and navigation. In classic concept car style, the rear doors are rear-hinged, showing a cabin with four big seats with headrest speakers inside. ‘The interior will maybe be something around 2028,’ adds de Meo.
How recyclable are we talking?
Renault says more than 70 per cent of the materials used to make the concept are recycled, and 95 per cent of it is recyclable – ‘this is actually double the current amount in cars currently in production,’ says de Meo.
The structure, for example, is 95 per cent recycled steel and all of the aluminium trimmings are 100 per cent recycled. Around 70 per cent of the interior’s plastics are recycled, and all of the textiles are recycled. Renault says that the floor is made out of milk bottles and plastic piping.
So, will this actually be real?
Elements will, but only over time. As de Meo said, the design will turn into a new-generation Scenic in 2024. The arguably quite pie-in-the-sky powertrain, Renault says, is something that could be viable ‘for the coming decade.’
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