Renault Sport taking a close look at electric vehicles
We talked a while back about how Renault Sport vehicles are going to be switching to automatic transmissions in the near future. Today we’ll be looking at the confirmed reports of a Renault Sport executive who said that they are taking a ‘very close look at’ electric vehicles technology.
It has to be mentioned from the get-go that a pair of Renault Zoe electric vehicles were spotted inside the engineering headquarters of Renault Sport – just outside Paris.
Apparently the Zoe has not yet been tinkered with by the Renault Sport team, but they have described the EV technology as being both ‘fantastic’ and ‘not mature’. This is a pretty clear sign that they are considering the technology, but for exactly which purposes is yet unknown.
It was also revealed that the Renault Sport team is looking into options that Renault has passed, such as using making a hybrid, because going pure electric from the onset would be too much of a financial investment.
Besides the fact that all Renault Sport vehicles are being engineered in the headquarters, the motorsport division also produces several racing-tailored vehicles here such as the Formula Renault 2.0 and 3.5, the Clio Cup and a few more.
According to Francois Champod – Renault Sport’s motorsport technical manager – the electrification of the motorsport division will depend on the success of the Formula E championship.
The Formula E is an auto racing championship that was designed by the FIA for one-make, single-seater, electric vehicles which is set to debut next year a series of races.
It is not yet known whether or not CEO Carlos Ghosn has committed the company to Formula E racing, but Champod smiled when he answered that he will not say whether or not this has happened.
Going into the electric vehicle field doesn’t look like a real probability now with Renault Sport working in the more entry-level range of racing with Twingo, Clio and the Megane spin-offs.
