Renault spent the past decade gradually turning its pioneering Espace people carrier into an SUV. Now it seems to be reconsidering that decision. The new electric E-Space Concept goes back to the one-box proportions, spacious cabin and family-focused philosophy of the 1984 original.
The concept will make its public debut at the Paris Motor Show on 12 October. For now, Renault is only showing part of its hand, but what it has revealed is significant: the E-Space is not another large electric SUV.
Instead, Renault explicitly describes it as a reinterpretation of the MPV, with relatively low ground clearance, a low beltline and a windscreen that flows almost seamlessly from the short bonnet. At 4.70 meters long, 2.02 meters wide and 1.67 meters high, it occupies almost exactly the same road space as today’s Espace SUV.
Back to where Espace started
Inside, six individual seats are arranged over three rows on a completely flat floor. The seats can rotate slightly to ease access, while other configurations turn the passenger compartment into a lounge around a large table.
In other words, Renault is returning to the philosophy that made the first Espace revolutionary in 1984: maximizing usable space within a relatively compact footprint rather than wrapping a conventional passenger compartment in SUV styling.
The timing may not be accidental. Renault had already admitted more than two years ago that it was considering bringing back a genuine electric Espace MPV.
In April 2024, Olivier Brosse, then responsible for Renault’s AmpR Medium electric platform, told Autocar that such a model was “something we are contemplating”.
The big question, he said, was not whether Renault could build one, but whether European buyers would accept an MPV again. The E-Space Concept now looks remarkably like Renault testing the answer to exactly that question.
EVs could give the MPV another chance
Electrification also makes the format more interesting than it was in the combustion era. A flat battery underneath the floor and compact electric motors make it easier to push the wheels towards the corners and devote more of the vehicle’s length to passengers.
Meanwhile, Renault’s future EV technology is moving upmarket. Under its new futuREady strategy, the next generation of C- and D-segment electric models will use the new RGEV Medium 2.0 architecture.
That 800-volt platform is designed for everything from B+ to D-segment vehicles and, Renault says, can accommodate different body styles. In full-electric form it targets up to 750 km WLTP range, while four-wheel-drive and range-extender versions are also planned.
Renault has not said that the E-Space uses this platform, nor has it announced a production version. But the concept fits neatly into the brand’s plan to launch 12 new European models by 2030 and strengthen its presence in the larger C- and D-segments.
One part of the concept is already heading to showrooms. Its new OpenR Panorama display stretches 1.13 meters across the cabin, and Renault confirms that the technology will appear in future upper-range electric models.
Production? Renault says no for now
Renault is careful not to promise too much. Officially, there are “currently no plans for a production version”, and the E-Space is described as an exploration of future electric family cars. But concepts are rarely created in isolation, and Renault has already been openly studying an electric Espace for years.
The market has changed, too. The Volkswagen ID. Buzz demonstrated that buyers can once again be attracted to something that is neither a conventional car nor another SUV, even as Chinese manufacturers increasingly invest in large electric MPVs.
Perhaps the more interesting question, therefore, is not whether Renault can revive the Espace as an electric MPV. It is whether the SUV boom has finally peaked enough for European families to want one again.
