Renault enters the affordable electric car war, launches new Twingo electric car

Post | the only reporter

A few months ago, Renault redefined its alliance relationship with Nissan. At this time, Renault and Nissan acquired new share ratios, creating an almost equal relationship. During the Carlos Ghosn era, Renault completely controlled Nissan and decided its future based on its enormous stake, but the reason why it is doing this in the current era is simple. This is because Nissan owns most of the electric vehicle technology and even the electric vehicle platform. So Renault, along with Nissan, also created a company dedicated to electric vehicles.

The name of this company is Ampere. You may be used to reading it as ‘Ampere’, but since Renault is based in France, it is read as ‘Ampere’ As a company specializing in electric vehicles and software, approximately 11,000 employees will work. And based on this, the cost of the 1st and 2nd generation C-segment electric vehicles currently being manufactured is planned to be reduced by 40% by 2027-28. So, the ‘Megan E-Tech’ currently being sold by Renault. This means that the prices of the same cars will be lower in the future.

Call for EV democratization in Europe

Since the electric vehicle platform itself has already been created, Amper is expected to focus on improving this platform. There are currently two platforms: the CMF-B EV platform, which produces B-segment electric vehicles, and the CMF-EV platform, which produces C-segment electric vehicles. In the future, the two platforms will be renamed to ‘AmpR Small Platform’ and ‘AmpR Medium Platform’. And we plan to significantly reduce the cost of the components that make up the platform.

The battery reduces costs by 50% while ensuring the same driving range. Powertrain costs, including electric motors, are planned to be reduced by 25%. The cost of the platform is reduced by 25% and the cost of the upper body on top is reduced by 15%. This is not an absurd story, because the ‘total cost of ownership’ of the upcoming electric vehicle ‘Scenic E-Tech’ has been lowered to the same level as the hybrid model. Of course, Renault has no intention of staying with this one car, and will release a variety of electric vehicles in the future.

Among them, the noteworthy model is the ‘Legend’. Although the name is like this, it is actually the next-generation model of Renault’s A-segment model Twingo (similar in size to Korean compact cars). The car offers best-in-class fuel efficiency of 10kWh/100km and is said to produce 75% lower carbon dioxide emissions over its lifetime than regular gasoline engine cars sold in Europe in 2023. And because of its small size, raw material consumption is low.

What is noteworthy is the price. It is said that the price will be less than 20,000 euros (about 28 million won) even before receiving subsidies. This price appears to be enough to prevent the influx of Chinese electric vehicles, which are a threat to Europe. Even if the size is A segment, it will be possible to create an interior larger than the B segment if the characteristics of electric vehicles are utilized. Renault’s president, Luca de Meo, said the Twingo was a “realistic and clever car,”and added, “a panacea for sustainable mobility.”

First of all, it has not been specifically mentioned when the new electric Twingo will be released. However, Renault said it would secure a total of 7 electric vehicles by 2031 by adding 2 additional second-generation models. So, it is estimated that Twingo EV will probably be seen around 2026-27. At a time when Volkswagen has recently said that “it may be difficult to produce affordable electric vehicles,” it is also curious whether Renault will be able to make a preemptive strike in the affordable electric vehicle sector.