K-ZE does it for Renault
A city car joins EV line-up
Renault will introduce an affordable electric compact model called the K-ZE in 2019. It will become the sixth electric vehicle in its line-up.
The “Suv-inspired” model will be launched in China first and offer 155 miles of range on the outgoing NEDC cycle.
The K-ZE, alongside a new range of core plug-in hybrid models (below), is part of the next stage in Renault’s Drive the Future electrification strategy announced last year. It said that by 2022, Renault will have eight EVS and 12 electrified (plug-in or mild-hybrid) vehicles.
The K-ZE follows Renault’s five existing EVS: the Twizy, Zoe, Kangoo ZE, Master ZE and Korea-only RSM SM3 ZE.
While Renault’s Zoe supermini remains at the forefront of electric car sales (only the Nissan Leaf sells more globally), the French car maker has been slow to reveal new EVS, instead expanding its zero-emission van range.
The Twingo-sized K-ZE, which was shown in concept form at the Paris show, will be sold in China first because it is the fastest-growing market for electric cars, said Renault. The car maker would not yet confirm the model for Europe.
The K-ZE will get rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera and a central screen with connected navigation and services. Even so, it aims to be the affordable mass-market small EV that is sorely missing from many markets.
Although the K-ZE is not confirmed for Europe, an electric mid-sized car, sitting above the Zoe, will arrive in the next few years. Renault electric boss Gilles Normand said the car maker “definitely needs something bigger”.
He said: “Zoe is B-segment, so we need to go down with A-segment – the K-ZE – and we need to go a little bit up. Our strategy is very clear. We want to cover the key segments in Europe: A-, B-, C-segment.”
Normand hinted that the model would be an electric equivalent to the Kadjar. “The worldwide industry trend is SUV, so clearly going in an SUV direction is a good trend,” he said.
Such a car would also get a longer range than the K-ZE (155 miles) and Zoe (186 miles).
Normand explained: “If you look at Zoe buyers’ profile, 80% of users fit with Zoe’s current range of 186 miles. For C-segment , it’s only 60%, so here we need more range. By 2022, we want more than 310 miles real usage so we are working on it.”
The model will be built on a new common platform shared with Nissan and Mitsubishi called CMF-EV, which will arrive before 2022.