Renault will offer the chance to drive the Kangoo be bop Z.E. this summer.

The French manufacturer intends to fill the roads with its electric vehicles within two years, and to do so it is working on a series of models, both derivatives and specific ones. One of them, in fact the first to see the light of day, is an electric variant of the commercial van Kangoo. The first prototypes of the definitive Kangoo Z.E. (Zero Emissions) will not appear until next year, and the market launch will take place in 2011, but Renault already showed its intentions with the Kangoo be bop Z.E. prototype at the Paris Motor Show in 2008.

Although it is not final, Renault wants to let drivers try the Kangoo be bop Z.E. next month so that people can see how an electric vehicle of these characteristics behaves, as well as get used to the peculiarities it involves. The maximum torque available from the first moment and the absence of noise are very important new features of this class of car, and you will need to prepare yourself if you want to get used to them.

The model presented at the Paris show had an electric motor producing 44 kW (equivalent to 60 CV) and batteries of 15 kWh. Its range was one hundred kilometres, but Renault is going to refine all of that technology in the 18 months remaining until its project is finished, and they hope to reach a real-world range of 160 km.

Besides the Kangoo, other models that Renault is planning to launch its electric range will also benefit from these capabilities. In 2011, the van will be joined by an electric variant of a family model (probably the Mégane Sport Tourer) and another completely new model that will not be a derivative, but is known to be a compact.

Source | Renault