Great press conference at the Geneva auto show from Renault’s design chief Laurens Van Den Acker who took the limelight to unveil two new concepts – and the pricing for the Twizy EV, a price that took most observers by surprise.
There wasn’t enough room on the stand for all the journalists who wanted to attend and they spilled over onto adjacent stands; here was a good indication of the high expectation that something special was going to be unveiled. And Laurens and the design team didn’t disappoint.
But first the hot news was that the Twizy EV will cost from €6,990; to lease the battery is just €45 a month, so not much more than some people pay for their monthly mobile phone charges.
Twizy goes on sale at selected Renault dealers in Europe from the end of this year. The two concepts, R-Space and Captur, show how the synergies within the Alliance can really help both Renault and Nissan.
The R-Space is the third concept car to be completed under the direction of Laurens and represents the "Family" stage in the company’s new design strategy.
R-Space is powered by an Alliance-developed turbocharged three-cylinder, 110 hp, 900cc petrol engine mated to an Efficient Dual Clutch transmission (EDC). This engine previews the new range of Alliance modular TCe engines, Energy TCe, which Renault will begin launching next year. Its CO2 emissions have been kept to just 95g/km, equivalent to fuel consumption of just 3.7 litres/100km.
The Captur is a crossover concept. It uses a twin-turbo engine-concept, developed from the new 1.6 dCi, Energy dCi 130. Downsizing is a key element in Renault’s strategy to meet its declared objective of being Europe’s leading automaker with regard to CO2 emissions.
The range of electric vehicles will run alongside internal-combustion engined models that combine performance with contained fuel consumption. This Energy dCi Concept engine fits perfectly within this strategy. It produces 118kW (160hp) from a capacity of 1.6 litres. Paired with a dual clutch EDC gearbox, this driveline promises genuinely enjoyable driving with CO2 emissions of 99g/km.
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