Renault aims to drive down the price of electric cars, with the Renault 5 leading the charge
Renault is looking to address the biggest problem faced by electric cars – the cost – outlining its future plans at its Renault Eways Electropop event.
Key to these plans will be the new Renault 5 – due on the roads in 2023 – which the company claims will be 33 per cent cheaper than the Renault Zoe. That would see it costing around £19,000.
There will also be a revival of the 4 nameplate, with a model planned that’s currently called 4ever, but also targeting affordability.
Much of this will come down to Renault’s new electric car platforms – CMF-BEV and CMF-EV.
The former is aimed at B segment cars, including that Renault 5 and the new 4ever, rolling over 50 per cent of the components – the non-EV components – from the current CMF-B which underpins many of Renault’s existing models.
CMF-BEV is modular, so the track and length of vehicles can be adjusted, but it’s designed around affordability, pitched as the volume seller and will allow electric ranges up to 400km WLTP (250 miles).
It will have a 100kW motor, which Renault will design itself, ultimately looking to reduce costs, reduce powertrain size and increase efficiencies.
Renault’s second platform is CMF-EV, which underpins the future MeganE (pictured) – due in 2022 – and the Nissan Ariya, due in 2021. This platform will offer up to 580km WLTP (360 miles).
There’s a lot happening at an organisational level within the Renault Group, with plans to launch 10 electric models across the group by 2025, seven of those from Renault itself.
The Renault 5 will be manufactured in northern France, as will the batteries, with Renault saying that it makes sense as France, Germany and the UK are seen as core markets for the new model.
There are plans for two gigafactories, again aiming to drive down the costs of batteries, while preparing for solid state batteries by 2030.
There’s certainly going to be a lot happening for Renault and we’ll start seeing the results as soon as 2022.
