It's the end of an era.
By 2025, the next Renault Mégane will only be electric.
By then, the recently revisited current generation and heir to the R12 and R19 lineage will have to share the bill with an electric crossover sedan inspired by the Mégane e-Vision concept.
Unveiled by Luca de Meo, this prototype inaugurates Renault's new family of zero-emission vehicles.
Very similar to the series version produced in the Douai plant and marketed in early 2022, this enhanced sedan is based on the CMF-EV electric platform of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance developed by a team of French and Japanese engineers.
Renault
This vehicle is the symbol of the strategy defined by the new general management of the Losange firm.
Given the low volumes produced by Espace and Talisman, these models will not be renewed.
Luca de Meo has decided to refocus the French manufacturer's range on the C segment, the largest in Europe.
Renault's CEO assures us: "We have plenty of ideas to strengthen our presence in this segment."
One of the advantages of electric propulsion is to be able to rethink the architecture of vehicles.
The Mégane eVision concept is no exception.
Around a wheelbase of 2.69 m, the car measures only 4.21 m, or 2 cm less than the last Captur, while preserving the livability of the current Mégane.
The engineers succeeded in limiting the mass to 1645 kilos including 400 kilos for the accumulators located under the flat floor.
Luca de Meo and the Mégane eVision concept.
OLIVIER MARTIN GAMBIER omg.omg@wanadoo.fr
Another advantage of the modular CMF-EV platform already used for the Nissan Ariya crossover: the batteries are the thinnest in automotive production.
Result: this crossover sedan does not exceed 1.50 m in height.
A good point in terms of air resistance and therefore consumption and autonomy.
Engineers have also focused their efforts on limiting mass.
After bitter discussions, the group responsible for designing the platform decided to compact all the technology at the front of the vehicle while VW, with its MEB platform, decided to install the electric motor at the rear. .
The Renault solution provides an advantage in terms of weight and cost.
Gilles Le Borgne, the director of engineering, puts it bluntly: "With our architecture, we have no electrical system to pass through to supply an engine at the rear, or water to transport to cool the engine."
The wound rotor electric machine has a power of 160 kW (217 hp).
As with Nissan, Renault announces several battery sizes: 40 and 60 kWh.
A four-wheel drive version with a small electric motor at the rear is also under consideration.
Renault
If it will take a little longer before being able to discover the interior, the exterior design is more than 90% that of the production car.
The lines of this crossover sedan are not very original and are inspired by the Morphoz concept which was to be presented at the Geneva Motor Show last March.
From this study, we find the general spirit and in particular the high beltline, the falling roof like that of a coupe, the hollowed sides, the floating roof and the fluidity of the shapes illustrated by the flush door handles.
Also coming from Morphoz, the light signature is based on animated bands running the entire width of both sides of the vehicle.
Camped on 20-inch wheels that should be kept on the high-end versions of the production model, the Mégane e-Vision concept shows that the raised sedan still has a bright future ahead of it.
