Emblème: Renault’s zero-carbon vision of tomorrow’s PFCEV family car

“Decarbonising mobility is a key objective in the fight against climate change,” French automaker Renault says, and how it plans to make tomorrow’s nearly zero-carbon family car it demonstrates at the Paris Motor Show from 14 to 20 October with the Renault Emblème.

The Emblème concept is a sleek, fully electric shooting brake, 160 kW (214 hp), powered by a fuel cell or a 40 kWh battery. This makes it plug-in rechargeable (a PFCEV) and offers a range of up to 1,000 km, although with two fuel stops in between.

What’s more, Renault claims it emits 90% fewer greenhouse gases than cars today, just 5 tonnes of CO2 ‘from the cradle to the grave’.

Only 1,750 kilograms

“To achieve this, the project explored many intelligent, credible, and viable combinations,” Renault says. This means “recycled materials with a low carbon footprint, natural materials, production processes relying entirely on renewable energy, general implementation of re-used parts and circularity, etc. The same was true of the technical choices, including the powertrain.”

The result is a pretty good-looking, sleek family car with an excellent Cx of 0.25 that is 4.80 meters long, 1,52 meters high, and has a wheelbase of 2.90 meters. The designers and engineers ‘hunted down’ every superfluous kilogram to reach a weight of 1,750 kg, including the battery.

The latter is a small NMC battery (40 kWh) that is lighter, cheaper, less bulky, and more environmentally friendly than a long-range family electric vehicle. It’s merely meant for daily use and shorter distances.

1,000 km with two fuel stops

A 30 kW PEMFC fuel cell and a hydrogen tank with a 2.8 kg capacity should provide ‘juice’ for longer distances, up to 350 km. Renault says it can “cover a distance of up to 1,000 km as rapidly as an ICE vehicle: without charging but with just two stops for hydrogen refueling—less than five minutes each time.”

“On a typical journey between Paris and Marseille, 75% of the electricity consumed by the vehicle is produced by the fuel cell, with no emissions other than water,” Renault adds. Still, the claimed 60% efficiency for the hydrogen-fueled drivetrain is below the 94% efficiency generally claimed for a battery electric vehicle (BEV).

The concept, which will be fully revealed at the Paris Motor Show, is a co-development of Ampere, Renault Group’s electric vehicle department, and 20 partners, all experts in their fields. Renault also has quite some experience with fuel cell vehicles through its Hyvia daughter, a joint venture with American fuel cell manufacturer Plug Power.

Life cycle analysis

That expertise was used “to slash CO₂ emissions by 90% over the vehicle’s life cycle.” Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a scientific method for quantifying a vehicle’s environmental impacts from cradle to grave. It involves material extraction, component production, vehicle assembly, transport, use, maintenance, and recycling.

“One of its primary uses is calculating the global warming potential associated with greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO₂ equivalent (CO₂ eq.) per vehicle sold. Renault Group calculates the actual consumption of its cars over 200,000 km,” the carmaker says.