ONGOING INNOVATION<\/strong><\/span><\/h3><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\u201cI believe every new car should be its own little revolution,\u201d says Gilles Vidal, Renault\u2019s chief designer. \u201cThe world is moving too fast today, and the new normal is to have new things all the time.\u201d Inside and out, the new Renault M\u00e9gane E-Tech Electric follows this dictate. The compact EV revises the codes of the popular segment long dominated by the Volkswagen Golf, enabled by a new Renault-Nissan Alliance platform. Even Renault\u2019s existing M\u00e9gane has been left behind, Vidal says.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Renault](\"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/2022011002_RenaultMeganeETechElectric.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Long wheelbase, short overhangs<\/strong><\/span>
\nLarge, 20-inch wheels are pushed to the very edge of the vehicle envelope, with minimal overhangs. That results in a wheelbase of 2.7 meters, nearly the same as the current M\u00e9gane, but with an overall length of just 4.2 meters, 150 mm shorter than the M\u00e9gane and even shorter than the Captur small SUV. \u201cThe brief for the M\u00e9gane came from the architecture itself,\u201d said Vidal, who was head of design at rival Peugeot for a decade before moving to the Renault brand in 2020 after the arrival of the new group CEO Luca de Meo.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Renault](\"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/2022011003_RenaultMeganeETechElectric.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>A new platform<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe CMF-EV platform, which can also be seen on the Nissan Ariya compact electric SUV, features a flat floor with a battery height of just 11 cm, and heating\/cooling components are moved in front of the cockpit. In some ways, the M\u00e9gane E-Tech is a concept car brought to life, Vidal says. In this case, the forefather of the M\u00e9gane is the Morphoz concept presented in 2020, which has donated its proportions, greenhouse silhouette and CMF-EV platform. But not, of course, its self-extending wheelbase meant to emphasize its polyvalent nature.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Renault](\"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/2022011004_RenaultMeganeETechElectric.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\u201cAlmost like a concept car\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe M\u00e9gane E-Tech\u2019s exterior, by Yann Jersali\u00e9, maintains the warm, organic shapes that have marked Renault\u2019s lineup since the 2021 Clio, but, like the Morphoz, encrusts it with high-tech, jewel-like details such as the modified C-shaped lighting signature and new Renault logo emblems. \u201cThe idea is to have a clean, minimal global volume, well structured, very balanced, compact and dense \u2014 quite generous in terms of shapes,\u201d Vidal says. \u201cIf you put it in the middle of the car park today, it will look almost like a concept car.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\u201cI believe every new car should be its own little revolution,\u201d says Gilles Vidal, Renault\u2019s chief designer. \u201cThe world is moving too fast today, and the new normal is to have new things all the time.\u201d Inside and out, the new Renault M\u00e9gane E-Tech Electric follows this dictate. The compact EV revises the codes of the popular segment long dominated by the Volkswagen Golf, enabled by a new Renault-Nissan Alliance platform. Even Renault\u2019s existing M\u00e9gane has been left behind, Vidal says.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Long wheelbase, short overhangs<\/strong><\/span> A new platform<\/strong><\/span> \u201cAlmost like a concept car\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nLarge, 20-inch wheels are pushed to the very edge of the vehicle envelope, with minimal overhangs. That results in a wheelbase of 2.7 meters, nearly the same as the current M\u00e9gane, but with an overall length of just 4.2 meters, 150 mm shorter than the M\u00e9gane and even shorter than the Captur small SUV. \u201cThe brief for the M\u00e9gane came from the architecture itself,\u201d said Vidal, who was head of design at rival Peugeot for a decade before moving to the Renault brand in 2020 after the arrival of the new group CEO Luca de Meo.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nThe CMF-EV platform, which can also be seen on the Nissan Ariya compact electric SUV, features a flat floor with a battery height of just 11 cm, and heating\/cooling components are moved in front of the cockpit. In some ways, the M\u00e9gane E-Tech is a concept car brought to life, Vidal says. In this case, the forefather of the M\u00e9gane is the Morphoz concept presented in 2020, which has donated its proportions, greenhouse silhouette and CMF-EV platform. But not, of course, its self-extending wheelbase meant to emphasize its polyvalent nature.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nThe M\u00e9gane E-Tech\u2019s exterior, by Yann Jersali\u00e9, maintains the warm, organic shapes that have marked Renault\u2019s lineup since the 2021 Clio, but, like the Morphoz, encrusts it with high-tech, jewel-like details such as the modified C-shaped lighting signature and new Renault logo emblems. \u201cThe idea is to have a clean, minimal global volume, well structured, very balanced, compact and dense \u2014 quite generous in terms of shapes,\u201d Vidal says. \u201cIf you put it in the middle of the car park today, it will look almost like a concept car.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>