Groupe Renault Working on CMF-EV Platform
The Renault Zandar. There is not much story here and there is a lot of story here. The not-much story is that Renault will launch a new all-electric SUV, possibly called the Zandar, next year, about the size of the Renault Captur and with a range of 300 – 500km and power output of 95 to 147kW. It will probably look a bit like the Morphoz concept. Ja well no fine. Too many ‘abouts’ and ‘maybes’ there.
The ‘lot of story’ is that it will be based on the CMF-EV platform. CMF-EV stands for Common Module Family, while EV is, of course, Electric Vehicle. The Common is significant because it was designed for use by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance as the basis for new electric vehicles. Module also says a lot, because this basic platform is modular and can be adjusted in size, width, battery capacity and motor power. Family means there will eventually be subdivisions in the platform, catering specifically for smaller, medium and larger vehicles into delivery vehicles and light trucks.
The dedicated electric vehicle platform gives a lot of advantages to the shape and functionality of the finished car. Turning an internal combustion car into an electric vehicle is like turning meatballs into soup. You can, but ideally should not. ICE needs a large engine bay and a transmission tunnel running along the floor of the passenger cabin. If you turn it into an EV, you end up with a lot of wasted space in front, while you cannot fit enough batteries to give you a proper range. The batteries you can carry will sit higher than is optimal, resulting in a top-heavy car.
A dedicated EV platform can be seen as a large skateboard, a flat surface with four wheels. You can make this flat surface bigger or smaller depending on what you want to put on top. On this platform, you can fit a layer of batteries to the size and spec you need. This configuration allows the maximum number of batteries per surface area while keeping the centre of gravity low. Now you can fit an electric motor to the front or the back wheels, or both, or even a dedicated motor to each wheel.
Congratulations. You now have a chassis with wheels, propulsion and energy storage. You can put anything on top, and you will always have the advantage.
Any vehicle is a compromise between size and space. Too big and it will be clumsy on the road and impossible to park. Too small and it will be cramped inside. The EV stretches these parameters significantly. You need very little space for the motors, while the batteries are part of the floor. There is no transmission tunnel to eat up cabin space either. It gives you room to spread out and luggage space normally associated with enormously large cars. Many EV concepts revel in this freedom, with swivel seats and L-shaped benches that turn the car into a lounge.
In the real world, however, size and space can and do matter. The platform the Renault Zandar will be built on was specifically designed to be adapted to the needs of a specific car. You will be able to fit the comfort and cabin space of a mid-sized car into the dimensions of a current small car. A small car will need less battery power, so it will be cheaper – more so if it is meant for city driving. Longer distance needs can be catered for by adding more batteries. You can even fit batteries that are taller or lower, depending on the vehicle you are building.
So the story of the Renault Zandar is not what it will be, but the sum of the parts that will make it up. The story of mainstream electric cars is still in the first chapter. Renault and its partners are writing the next chapter with its CMF-EV project. The Zandar will be one of the main characters in this chapter.
For now, the future of the car is electric, with hybrid as a stepping stone and hydrogen as a possible ‘future future.’ If you are interested in how this story unfolds, watch this space.
