Renault Made a Hydrogen Wagon With a Rechargeable Battery

1 month, 4 weeks ago - 07. October 2024, Motor1
Renault Made a Hydrogen Wagon With a Rechargeable Battery
The rear-wheel-drive Emblème is a hybrid but not the usual type.

Renault wants to be carbon neutral in Europe by 2040 and all over the world just 10 years later. To get there, it's doubling down on battery-powered electric vehicles while insisting there's still a future for hydrogen cars. Dubbed as a demo car, the Emblème is actually both. Much like the new Honda CR-V e:FCEV, it combines a hydrogen fuel cell with a rechargeable battery pack.

The French marque calls it a shooting brake although some would argue it has too many doors. Body style aside, the Emblème is an aero-driven concept with a drag coefficient of only 0.25. It looks substantially different than the regular production models and we're hoping some of its design cues will rub off on road-going vehicles. The Emblème is large for a concept described as a compact car, at 189 inches (4.8 meters) long but only 59.9 inches (1.52 meters) tall, giving it a sleek profile.

Renault claims the Emblème can cover up to 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) "as rapidly as an ICE vehicle." That quote assumes two stops to juice up the 2.8-kilogram hydrogen tank, provided you'll find refueling stations considering there were roughly 1,000 globally at the end of last year. Each stop takes less than five minutes and a full tank lasts for 217 miles (350 kilometers). In town, the low-slung wagon behaves like a battery-powered EV courtesy of a 40-kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) pack.

Doing the math, a full battery charge should last for 187 miles (300 kilometers) considering that by making two stops for hydrogen, a driver can cover 434 miles (700 kilometers). The Emblème is rear-wheel drive by featuring a 215-horsepower motor mounted at the back. This wound-rotor electric motor doesn't use any rare earths.

Although it has a complex powertrain, the Emblème is not as heavy as most traditional hybrids or EVs. Renault touts a curb weight of 3,858 pounds (1,750 kilograms) after the engineers "hunted down every superfluous kilogram." All these efforts have been made to ensure the striking wagon is as much eco-friendly as possible. Emissions "from the cradle to the grave" were slashed by 90% compared to similarly sized car.

The concept car will be publicly displayed at the 2024 Paris Motor Show between October 14-20 when we're hoping to see the interior as well.

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