German auto supplier Continental, of tyres fame, has turned this Renault Megane hatchback all electric using a total of 40 EV components from its catalogue. The car is powered by the same electric motor you’d find in the Renault Fluence Z.E. – an externally excited synchronous motor. Conti is the only manufacturer that makes this sort of motor in significant numbers, which doesn’t use expensive rare earth metals for the magnets and is very efficient.
With 94 hp and 226 Nm of peak torque on tap, yielding a 0-100 km/h time of 11.9 seconds, it’s no pocket rocket, but then it has no such pretensions. A small 18 kWh under-floor lithium-ion battery pack gives a maximum range of 150 km, which is alright for city driving. One can deduce, then, that the urban environment is its element. It charges fully in just over two and a half hours, thanks to an onboard high-capacity 10 kW charger.
The battery, along with its management system, safety electronics, crash sensor and liquid cooling collectively weighs only 154 kg. Conti says the prototype, developed in a little over six months, has already logged over 10,000 km.
The Conti Megane features an Accelerator Force Feedback Pedal (AFFP), which is touted as “the world’s first mass-produced active accelerator pedal.” Basically, the less charge is left in the battery, the more resistance one would encounter when pushing the right pedal, to signal the need for driving more economically.
The car rolls on 195/55 R20 Conti.eContact tyres, which decrease rolling resistance by 10% and increase range by about 10 km. These tyres will come standard on the upcoming Renault ZOE.
Conti says this car will remain a concept. But we’re certain, as far as its technologies are concerned, that this won’t be the last we’ll hear of them.
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