Renault unveiled the Mégane eVision, an EV variant of the popular five-door hatchback, expected to be available by 2021.
The new EV-specific CMF-EV platform underpinning the Mégane is a result of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi. It will also be used by Nissan for the upcoming refresh of its popular LEAF. The platform allows smaller, more compact electric motors to be installed as well as batteries to be either placed horizontally or stacked vertically, similar to the Lotus Evija. Unfortunately, the Mégane or LEAF performance will be far from Lotus’ hypercar.
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The eVision’s motor is expected to produce 215 horsepower and 300 Nm of torque. At the unveiling of the concept, Renault’s CEO Luca De Meo promised Mégane will cover London and Newcastle’s distance, which is about 281 miles or 451 kilometers, in the same amount of time as internal-combustion vehicles, stops included. He also mentioned a 0-60 mph (0-100 km/h) acceleration time of fewer than eight seconds, but that’s something yet to test in real-world conditions.
Powering the Mégane eVision is a water-cooled 60-kWh battery, with quick charging capabilities of up to 130 kW, allowing the Mégane to be charged to 160 miles of range in just 30 minutes. The Mégane will also support vehicle-to-grid charging, meaning that owners can sell some battery power to the grid in times of high demand or price after recharging the cars themselves for lesser money.
Renault has done away from making pointlessly large front grilles and made the headlight assembly dominate the car’s front look — the angled DRLs on the sides running down to the front bumper — while a patterned light bar sweeps across the hood, and illuminating the Renault logo.
However, this assembly may not feature on the production models. The floating roof has the A-pillar and C-pillar, featuring a transition black-to-gold color combination while joining the rest of the car to the gold roof. The sharply sloping roof makes for a prominent roof spoiler at the rear, which also features the taillight assembly, consisting of a continuous light across the hatch’s width with the same pattern as the light bar at the front.
The Mégane may become a very popular choice among European buyers, owing to the success of Renault’s other EV, the Zoe, and also the popularity of the Mégane as an all-around performer in the hatchback market.
Despite its compact design, Renault promises that the Mégane will be much roomier and spacious than before due to the new platform and thinner batteries. With this concept, Renault also indicated that, like many other European manufacturers, it would also be shifting to an all-electric line-up by 2050 in Europe and cutting 50% of its ICE-powered vehicles by 2030.
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