French cars are somewhat of a disappointment on the whole, mundane boring cars, looks that blend into the background and performance to sit at traffic lights. However every once and awhile they drop a sporty number to remind you just what they can do.
One of our all time favourites was the Renault 5 Turbo, and then there was the Peugeot 205 T16, V6 powered Clio’s, amazingly fun little hatchbacks. Not supercars, but lightweight hatchebacks with enough power and ability to make any driver smile!
Electric drives seem to be taking over the city hatchbacks nowadays, but Renault has teased us at Geneva with a pant wetting electric hatchback concept car. Unfortunately it sounds like it will not make production.
Lets us get excited for the moment though:
This is the Renault Zoe e-sport concept. Taking the Zoe hatchback and using tech from their Renault e.dams Formula E team, they have created a bonkers idea of an all-electric hatchback RenaultSport.
They have put TWO electric motors in the car, which means it would produce 456bhp and 472lb ft of torque! Renault estimates this would propel the Zoe e-sport silently to a 0-62mph time of 3.2 seconds, 0-130mph in less than 10 seconds! With two batteries and a 4 wheel drive powertrain the Zoe is carrying quite a bit of weight, so to offset this the bodywork is made from carbon fibre, while the tubular steel chassis and roll cage incorporates Kevlar panels, so that it weighs in at 1400kg
The car sits lower than the original and wider with double wishbone suspension front and back and 4 way adjustable dampers. With so much power, there needs to be some additional aerodynamics to keep the car planted and capable of producing the power to the road. Large air dam and splitter utilised at the front of the car, to the rear a flat floor and large rear diffuser. Large tracts in the rear doors, a large rear spoiler and 20-inch centrally locking diamond cut aluminium wheels complete the race car inspired look along with the ‘Satin Blue’ paintwork taken from the Formula E team.
The brief for the ZOE e-sport according to Stéphane Janin, Renault’s Concept Car Director, was to have fun, explaining: “we came up with something midway between a production model and a racing car” Unfortunately it appears only to be a one off concept car and will never make it to production. Boo!
Wouldn’t you love to see this made? We certainly would!
