Renault recently gave a glimpse into readying the production version of its next-generation EV model. The Renault 5 is on a prototype production run in a ‘secret and high-tech miniature plant’. As a part of the brand’s Technocenter engineering complex near Paris, the location itself is not so secret.

Created 25 years ago, the Global Production Engineering Center serves Renault as a prototype facility for both the vehicles and the manufacturing and assembly processes. The company is working on the first all-electric Renault 5 vehicles here to ready the model and the machines for series production at the Douai plant in northern France next year.

At the same time, prototypes need to be produced at the Prototype Build Center. These ‘technical representatives of the future production version’, usually called ‘mules’, have been manufactured since October 2021, and the mules for the Renault 5 currently come camouflaged in a Clio-like silhouette on the open road. So far, there are 60 out there.

Hybrid platform

Since March this year, the mules already carry the battery and drive that will make it into the Renault 5. The vehicles also went to Lapland as part of the development and testing process for the new full-electric CMF-B EV platform.

Although Renault calls the CMF-B EV its platform for small electric cars in the B segment, it is based on the ‘Common Module Family’ combustion engine platform or CMF for the B segment. 70% of the components are to be identical, for example, in the chassis or the assistance systems and infotainment. Of course, this is primarily intended to keep costs reasonable.

Testing at all levels

Next, camouflaged prototypes will hit European roads before Renault engineers make the final adjustments. The Renault 5 with standard bodywork now begins its test drives. With its camouflaged body and black steel rims, the vehicle looks different from the study with its yellow paint and large aluminum rims, even if many concept elements have made it into the design.

The series production now being prepared requires similar fine-tuning and testing. Renault is one of the few car manufacturers to operate a specific prototype facility where the assembly methods and processes are representative of automotive production lines.

By imitating the manufacturing process, the center aims to produce prototypes that accurately represent future production models to validate the industrial assembly process, naturally keeping pace with development phases.

The all-electric Renault 5 will also be the first EV under the French brand with a bidirectional charger. The V2G service will be available in France and Germany in 2024 and, from then, expand all over Europe where the electrical network allows it.