Renault has created a hydrogen van with a battery

The hydrogen van from Renault will have battery/Renault

Renault wants to become carbon neutral in Europe by 2040, and in the whole world – only after 10 years. To achieve this, the company is doubling production of battery electric vehicles.

It insists that hydrogen cars still have a future. Dubbed a show car, the Emblème is actually both. Like the new Honda CR-V e:FCEV, it combines a hydrogen fuel cell with a battery pack, writes Motor1.

The French brand calls it a “shooting brake”, although some think it has too many doors. Body styling aside, the Emblème is an aerodynamic concept with a drag coefficient of just 0.25. It looks a lot different than the regular production models, and we hope that some of its design tricks will be used in the road cars. 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.

< p>Renault claims the Emblème can cover 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) “as fast as a car with an internal combustion engine.” That quote assumes two stops to fill up the 2.8kg hydrogen tank, provided you can find refueling stations, given that there were about 1,000 around the world at the end of last year. Each stop takes less than five minutes, and a full tank lasts for 217 miles (350 kilometers). In the city, the low-frame van behaves like a battery electric vehicle thanks to a 40-kilowatt nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery.

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If you do the math, a full charge of the battery should be enough for 187 miles (300 kilometers), given that with two stops to fill up with hydrogen, the driver can cover 434 miles (700 kilometers). The Emblème is rear-wheel drive thanks to its rear-mounted 215-horsepower engine. This wound-rotor electric motor does not use any rare earth elements.

Despite its complex powertrain, the Emblème is not as heavy as most traditional hybrids or electric vehicles. Renault claims a curb weight of 3,858 pounds (1,750 kilograms) after engineers “hunted for every extra kilogram.” All these efforts were made in order to ensure the maximum environmental friendliness of this bright station wagon. Cradle-to-grave emissions have been reduced by 90% compared to cars of similar size.

The concept car will be publicly unveiled at the 2024 Paris Motor Show from October 14-20, where we hope to see and its interior.