A Mégane-sized electric car will be crucial to Renault’s electric growth plans in Europe, according to the company's electric boss, Gilles Normand.
The Renault Zoe is currently the best-selling EV in Europe ahead of the Nissan Leaf, while the recently revealed Twingo-sized K-ZE is also likely to arrive in Europe by 2022.
However, Normand said that Renault “definitely needs something bigger”.
“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 [in the] A, B, and C segments.”
Normand hinted that the C-segment electric car would be an electric equivalent to the Renault 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 have a longer range than the Zoe and K-ZE, which claim 186 miles and 155 miles respectively.
“If you look at Zoe buyers’ profile, 80% of users fit with the current range of 186 miles," continued Normand. "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.
The platform will be modular for use on numerous vehicles. However, the next-generation Zoe isn't expected to use it.
CMF-EV-based cars will be built at Renault’s Douai plant in France.
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