Renault has created a hydrogen station wagon with a battery pack: what it looks like

The French automaker Renault has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral in Europe by 2040, and globally in 10 years. To achieve this goal, the manufacturer is betting on electric vehicles and hydrogen-fueled cars.

Recently, the company presented a demonstration car of the Emblème model, which is actually both. Like the new Honda CR-V e:FCEV, the car combines a hydrogen fuel cell with a rechargeable battery pack, writes Motor1.

The Emblème is an aerodynamic concept with a drag coefficient of just 0.25. It looks noticeably different from the rest of Renault's production models and some of the design solutions have already been hailed as very successful. For a concept that is described as a compact car, the Emblème is quite large - it is 4.8 meters long. But at the same time, its height is only 1.52 meters, which gives its silhouette a graceful appearance.

Renault claims that the Emblème can cover up to 1000 kilometers "as fast as a car with an internal combustion engine". However, such a trip will require two stops to refuel the 2.8-kilogram hydrogen tank. This will be quite a challenge, as there were only about 1,000 such refueling stations worldwide as of the end of last year. Each stop will last less than five minutes, and a full tank is enough for 350 kilometers of travel. At the same time, in the city, this low-frame station wagon behaves like a battery-powered electric vehicle thanks to a 40-kilowatt nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery.

If you do the math, a full battery charge should last for 300 kilometers, given that the driver can drive 700 kilometers after making two stops to refuel with hydrogen. The Emblème has rear-wheel drive and is equipped with a 215 horsepower motor mounted at the rear. This phase-rotor electric motor does not use rare earth elements.

Despite the sophisticated drivetrain, the Emblème is not as heavy as most traditional hybrids or electric vehicles. Renault claims a kerb weight of 1750 kilograms after engineers "hunted down every extra kilogram". All these efforts were made to make this striking wagon as environmentally friendly as possible. Emissions from the concept have been reduced by 90% compared to a similarly sized car.

The concept car will be presented to the public at the 2024 Paris Motor Show from October 14 to 20. At the same time, journalists hope to evaluate the interior of the model.

Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.