Your servant standing next to Renault Belgium Luxembourg Director Philippe Portal at the Brussels Salon 2009 for a talk about Belgian car buyers and Renaults' automotive future...

A matter of emotion…

At the latest Brussels Salon, we had also a word with the ever-friendly and charming Philippe Portal, Director of Renault Belgique Luxembourg. We asked him how the Belgian car buyer is coping with the present uncertain times.

“Buying and driving a car is still very much an emotional affair”, smiled Philippe Portal. “Our cars are very long-lasting, an 1.2 litre Twingo will last easily some 300.000 kms, and yet we are selling every year some 150.000 new cars in the Belgian market”.

The Concept ZE is based on the Kangoo be bop, but of course no cooling grille is built in for its electric motor...

“Of course, continued Philippe Portal, “with Dacia Renault is offering the right new car(s)for the customer who now starts making budgetary priorities.  Instead of driving a used 4 to 5 years old car with 100.000 kms on the clock, he sits at the wheel of a new automobile, with modern technology, and benefits of a warranty of 3 years. Also in the fleet market, our present range offers plenty of possibilities for the fleet manager to pick the car which offers exactly what he wants in terms of economy and environment friendliness, an aspect which is grower even more important for the present-day firms”, commented Philippe Portal.

The Kangoo be bop met with quite some interest on the show...

Zero Emission Concept car on display…

Renault showed at the Salon their all-electric concept car. Based on the brand new Renault Kangoo be bop, Z.E. Concept features a design which has been adapted to the spirit of an electric vehicle, with the focus on minimizing energy consumption while at the same time providing core comfort features.

The cockpit of the ZE Concept Car. The rear view mirrors actually transmit their image on small monitor screens placed in the drivers' line of sight...

The energy consumption of auxiliary functions such as lighting, heating, climate control, etc. is very important when it comes to improving the range of an electric car, so needless to say that special attention has been paid to optimize energy management.

Renault uses heat-reflective paint and a special bodywork which functions along the same lines as a Thermos flask. It comprises two insulating panels with a sandwich of air. This air, which is still the most effective insulant known today, limits variations in temperature between the exterior and the interior of the car.

This insulation is further optimized by the use of acid green-tinted glass for the glazed areas. But this is not enough: solar panels, positioned on the roof, power a temperature regulation system. So cooling the inside of a vehicle uses hardly any energy. It enables climate control to function even at standstill or when parking, and avoids having to switch on the climate control when starting the vehicle.

The all electric vehicle is powered by a potent 70kW (95 HP) electric motor with torque of 226Nm, fed with the now obligatory lithium-ion batteries. This provides very lively performance indeed for the 1.5 tonne car.

Very futuristic seats in the Zero Emission concept car...

Remaining automotive theory?

This concept car is by no means a mere theoretical exercise, as one knows that since the beginning of 2008, the Renault-Nissan Alliance has signed agreements with several states and regions (Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Japan's Kanagawa prefecture, the state of Tennessee in the USA), which will lead to the mass marketing of this form of vehicle from 2011…

We also tell you on this place that we have driven the astonishing Scenic ZEV H2, and it left us speechless to say the least. The Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars of the Renault-Nissan Alliance have reached an impressive  degree of technical maturity… we will tell you soon more about it on these pages!

Hans Knol ten Bensel