Renault at Paris Motor Show – Vague Marketing for Unique Cars

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Renault at Paris Motor Show - Vague Marketing for Unique Cars

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If you leave the marketing* babble aside, Renault at it home auto show in Paris this week has shown several strong products that point to a bright future. The oh-sooh si français brand is unveiling three cars for the first time worldwide at its stand (in Hall 6): 4EVER Trophy, R5 TURBO 3E and all-new Kangoo E-Tech Electric.

There is so much history here, it’s tough to know where to concentrate on the most significant. AutoInformed arbitrarily picks the Kangoo because it caught Ford of Europe napping 25 years ago while Renault was transiting, so to speak, into the leisure activity vehicle segment. With its pragmatic design and a sliding side door for the first time, Renault Kangoo merged two segments in Europe – a roomy car for families, and a work vehicle with a large-sized boot, err trunk, and durability for professionals. Renault has sold 4 million of them in 50 countries. Renault Kangoo is now available in an E-Tech Electric version for the first time in its history.

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Renault at Paris Motor Show - Vague Marketing for Unique Cars

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Renault Group’s battery strategy consists of standardization of choices within the Alliance with Japanese giant Nissan. With NMC based chemistry (Nickel, Manganese & Cobalt) and a unique cell footprint, the Group will cover 100% of the future BEV launches across all segments. It will cover all ranges with up to one million electric vehicles Alliance-wide by 2030. This chemistry choice delivers – it’s hoped – a competitive ratio of cost per kilometer, with up to 20% more range compared to other chemistries and in theory better recycling performance.

The batteries come with an 8-year or 160,000 km warranty. Before that, Renault will replace them free of charge if their capacity drops under 70% of their nominal capacity (SoH). The Kangoo E-Tech Electric comes with a 90 kW motor rated at 245 Nm of instantly available torque for bisk driving. An Eco mode limiting the vehicle’s maximum speed (110 km/h) and power (56 kW) optimizes its range.

The driver can choose among three regenerative braking modes:

  • Sailing (B1 on the display): limited regeneration, for driving on motorways and expressways.
  • Drive (B2): default regeneration for use in a variety of situations; the effect when you lift your foot off the accelerator is similar to that in a vehicle with a combustion engine.
  • Brake (B3): maximum regeneration for use in traffic jams or on mountain roads.

Plugged into an 11 kW public charging point, Kangoo Electric’s battery will go from 15% to 80% in 2 hours 40 minutes. On on a 7.4 kW wall box, it will do so from 15% to 100% in less than 6 hours. Combined with the 22 kW charger, the battery has a liquid cooling system and a resistance heating system that keep the temperature at the right level to avoid affecting range and to shorten charging times.

With the MyRenault smartphone app or Renault Easy Link multimedia system, Kangoo E-Tech Electric comes with specific services including:

  • Scheduled battery charging and remote battery status monitoring.
  • Scheduled passenger compartment pre-heating or pre-cooling.
  • A charging point locator for the route.
  • The destinations you can reach with the battery’s remaining charge.

Renault Kangoo E-Tech Electric is available in three versions:

  • Authentic, with the essential equipment that businesses or fleets need or for customers who want a vehicle they can use at work and after work.
  • Equilibre, for communities that want to offer an environmentally-friendly transport service that saves money.
  • Techno, for families or self-employed professionals who want all the comfort and safety they can get, plus what’s called a distinctive design

Kangoo E-Tech Electric is ahead of its combustion sibling, of course since it’s a much newer design. The conventional hydraulic braking system comes with ARBS (Adaptative Regenerative Brake System), which maximizes energy regeneration. Various combinations of traction and braking modes provide the operators with six ways to balance convenience and range according to how they use the vehicle and the driving conditions. The information about the selected driving mode, electric power management and driver assistance systems is displayed on a 10-inch all-digital color display that can be fully customized (available as an option).

Kangoo E-Tech Electric has a dual-zone air conditioning system powered by a heat pump. The pump heats the air in winter and cools it in summer, using the same principle as reversible air conditioners. The heating system harvests calories outside and transfers them inside, whereas the cooling system removes calories from the passenger compartment and releases them outside it.

The heat pump’s efficiency is optimal between -15°C and +15°C. Besides first-class thermal comfort, it maintains the vehicle’s range – adding up to 30 km more WLTP range, Renault claims. Kangoo E-Tech Electric can come with a heating windscreen, steering wheel and seats. These options provide more comfort using only a “marginal amount of power from the battery.”

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*marketing babble: On 1 January 2021, Renault established its first centralized global marketing department “to foster creativity, ensure a more consistent advertising and social media discourse, and boost efficiency for greater value creation. The main objective of the Renault central global marketing department is to make the brand stronger, more robust and a love brand around the world, said Arnaud Belloni, Renault Global Marketing Director. To achieve this, only in 2021 we have produced and implemented 48 global 360° campaigns for the entire world, strongly focusing on the current social trends and habits.”

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