Renault is planning to double the distance its electric vehicles can travel per charge by 2020, thanks to more efficient batteries with higher energy densities, according to Eric Feunteun, Renault’s head of EV.
This comes as the brand plans to sell two tiers of electric cars: affordable models with limited range and more expensive versions that can travel further on each charge.
“If you ask somebody on the street, ‘do you want a larger battery and greater range?’, the answer is, of course, ‘yes'”, said Feunteun. “But then, when you move from emotion to facts and they have the choice between 100 miles and 200 miles with a different price, then probably the reaction of people is getting more rational,” he continued. Consequently, Renault expects to have two solutions: to satisfy drivers after the greatest range or the lowest price.
With four electric models already on offer – the Zoe, Twizy and Kangoo EV (plus the non-UK Fluence saloon) – the company is looking to develop these models rather than introduce new ones.
“We have the widest range of [electric] cars, so our focus now is more on improving those cars – the features themselves, the range, charging and costs,” Feunteun claimed. “We have with our four cars strong assets and we’d rather put our energy and technology into improving those four cars than just trying another project.”
Renault, meanwhile, is to recall 999 Zoe EVs in the UK manufactured before 6 October 2014 to correct “the small possibility” of the front wheel arch liner causing damage to the front brake hose.
