Renault is betting big on full-hybrid powertrains as a means of transitioning its cars and customers to pure-electric power, and has no plans to expand its PHEV offering beyond the flagship Rafale.
Company CEO Fabrice Cambolive told Autocar that the decision to focus on full-hybrids – a move that contrasts starkly with heavy recent investment in PHEVs from BMW, Audi, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo and Stellantis – is in acknowledgement of their usability and packaging constraints.
He said: “Three or four years ago it was not obvious, choosing between mild, full, plug-in hybrid or pure-EV - there were a lot of different ways to manage your engine line-up.”
“What we decided is to bet on full hybrid, because for me that is the easiest way to have low-consumption cars and to prepare our customers to go to EVs,” added Cambolive, highlighting the ‘EV feeling’ they give at low speeds, without the need to be plugged in.
Renault's sole plug-in hybrid – and likely to be its last – is the top-spec Rafale E-Tech 4x4, which unusually combines a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol with three EV motors - one on each axle and a starter-generator in the gearbox. A 22kWh battery supplies enough energy for 66 miles of WLTP-rated electric range.
Because the Rafale's PHEV powertrain is based on the lower-powered full-hybrid system, it operates with electric assistance even when the traction battery is empty - making it what Cambolive calls “a plug-in hybrid, hybrid”.
He touted the resultant high-efficiency urban running as a primary advantage of this set-up, as well as the outright maximum range of 600 miles when both the fuel tank and battery are brimmed, and the fact that “you benefit from much more torque and acceleration”.
Cambolive also said “you don't consume more [energy] when your battery is empty, which is, for me, one of the biggest problems of normal plug-in hybrid cars”.
But he has no intention of adapting this concept to suit other models in the Renault line-up, leaving the Rafale as the only recipient of this complex new drivetrain.
It is unusual for a mainstream manufacturer to invest in a bespoke powertrain for one model - particularly one as complex as the Rafale PHEV’s – but Cambolive said the fact that the SUV was already offered as a full hybrid made its development more cost-effective.
“It's only the addition of plug-in hybrid technology that we had before, with hybrid technology we have also elsewhere. It’s an intelligent way to associate two technologies which were already available,” he said.
Despite that, it will not be scaled down to fit in other models in the Renault line-up - mainly because the Rafale’s large footprint means it can take full advantage of the multi-energy arrangement.
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I was wondering about "full hybrid". What the hell is that? I figured it out: a vehicle that has a battery and an IC engine, but without a plug to charge the battery.
So in otherwords it's powered by snakeoil....Its a fossil fuel car!
'Full Hybrid' is a complete mysnomer for these.
Ultimately, the only fuel you put in the car in a full hybrid is petrol, so it is a petrol car.
PHEVs are 'Full Hybrid' as you could travel after putting petrol OR electrical energy into the car.
The trouble with PHEVs, certainly in the UK, is that most are company cars, bought solely to reduce tax. It is well known most users of PHEV company cars don't bother to charge them, anywhere near enough to make them really work. Full hybrids (AKA self-charging hybrids) are always more efficient than oetrol only ICE cars. Whether they are more efficient than a good modern Diesel, is anotheer matter.