Renault Aims for 150-mile All-Electric Range by 2015

Batteries are the only Achilles’ heel in the otherwise impressive armor of achievement in electric cars, limited to just 100 miles to a charge. Yet Renault thinks by 2015, they will have increased their range to 150 miles.

First off, I hope everybody had a happy Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and now Cyber Monday (if you celebrate such holidays). I know I had a great time off, but I’m happy to be back writing about the cars I love.

Major manufacturers are experimenting with all kinds of different batteries, from lithium-ion to varities of nickel and more. I’m no chemist or engineer, but I do know that while a lot of people are interested in electric cars, paying full price for a car that gets a lot less range than a regular gas engine is a big problem for many people.

Renault realizes this too. Their all-electric Zoe hits markets next year with a 100 mile range, which is on par with the other major contenders. By 2015 though, they think they can bump the range up to 150 miles. Renault (and by extension their ally Nissan) are working on different kinds of batteries, including zinc-air and silver-zinc varieties. They hope that by 2025, battery pack range will have increased to 300 miles. That isn’t far behind what many small cars manage now.

Imagine 300 miles between charges. Who wouldn’t be happy about that?

Source: AutoCar

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

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Tags: 100, 150, 2015, 2025, 300, car, electric, france, french, miles, Nissan, range, Renault, zoe

About the Author

Christopher DeMorro A writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs, Chris can be found wrenching or writing- or esle, he's running, because he's one of those crazy people who gets enjoyment from running insane distances.

http://Web ziv

Looks like a nice little car, but it won’t be built until mid-2012, and it will have the ubiquitous ‘100 mile range if you drive like it is a NEV, 75-80 if you use the AC or the accelerator’. I would bet even money that by then the Leaf will have more than 73 mile range on their EPA sticker.
By 2015 most of the BEV’s will have ranges from 150 to 200 because packs will be cheaper and lighter than they are now. It is going to be an interesting 7 or 8 years as all the builders try different pack sizes/price points/AER permutations.
And then you throw EREV’s into the equation…
http://Web Steve Shurts

While this is kind of cute, I can’t disconnect my memories of the Dauphin and R8’s from Renault. Both were less than stunning successes. Renault’s only decent vehicle brought to the US was the Gordini, which had the redeeming grace of being somewhat (by Renault standards) sporty. I don’t think I will be running to a Renault dealer anytime soon.

Is there any update on the Aptera? I can’t help but like this little car. I hope they have overcome all of the internal fighting. Later, man…
http://Web Peter

Why is it the main automotive companies are playing around with 100 mile ranges when there are after-market conversion companies that can already to 150 mile ranges? (see post for 1000 AMP vehicles in Iceland)

You would think a clean design car could out-match an after-market car.

What is holding them back?
http://Web Dave

300 miles by 2025? Wow, that would only put them about 12-13 years behind Tesla. Of course if Tesla is still around by then, they’ll probably have a car that can go 600 miles for under $30,000 (in 2010 dollars).
http://Web PMBrown

So much for what they think,they dont even make cars in France any more.
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