Renault eyes pure-electric SUV
RENAULT WILL IN future extend its range of electric vehicles beyond dedicated cars such as the Zoe to other models, including an SUV.
The French firm was a pioneer of EVS and chose to create dedicated models, like the Twizy and Zoe, to launch the technology, rather than convert existing core models.
However, sales and marketing boss Thierry Koskas said the technology is now mature enough — and range anxiety no longer enough of a problem — for the firm to offer “bigger electric vehicles in bigger segments”. He said there would be a “broader range of electric vehicles” from Renault in the future and that it was “preparing future models not limited to the B-segment” in which the Zoe competes.
On the idea of an electric Renault SUV, Koskas said: “It’s very much under study, there’s absolutely no reason not to have electric SUVS. It will probably happen in the future.”
Koskas said Zoes accounted for one in four of all electric vehicles sold in Europe, and he welcomed the fact that more manufacturers were producing rival products to help further develop the market.
Until now, Renault’s point of differentiation has been that it is the only manufacturer to offer an electric vehicle in the supermini class, but Koskas said future electric cars would be differentiated in other ways: “The cars will be different, the power of the engine, the battery, the range. There is lots of room to innovate and be different. Not only in the car, but on everything — the selling process and so on, on services you have around the car, like apps to book services and see charging points. There is room to be different with them all.”
Koskas said Renault’s involvement in Formula E also played a key role in linking the firm’s electric road car development. “With Formula E, there is very much a direct link to electric cars, with the battery and the electric motor,” he added.
Renault also competes in Formula 1, where the road-torace links are less obvious. However, Koskas said F1 was important in “showing the excellence of the brand”.