Renault emphasizes flexibility, performance of EV platform

PARIS -- Renault’s new CMF-EV architecture will form the basis for compact and small midsize electric vehicles, and could even be adapted for future Alpine brand high-performance cars, the group’s engineering chief Gilles Le Borgne said.

The CMF-EV platform, developed in Japan with alliance partner Nissan at a reported cost of 500 million euros, will debut by the end of next year in Europe with two compact EVs, the Nissan Ariya and Renault Megane eVision. 

The high-strength, hot-stamped steel platform is new, but also new for Renault is an electric powertrain that includes (on the Megane eVision) a 160 kilowatt electric motor that delivers 217 hp. It can be recharged with 200 km in range in 20 minutes at a 130 kW DC station.

Le Borgne said in an online round table last month that the CMF-EV platform could accommodate vehicles from 4,000 mm to 4,700 mm long, from the lower end of the compact range up to smaller midsize models. 

Asked whether sports-car brand Alpine could base models on the platform, he said that “the Alpine team is contemplating this platform, perhaps with more power, but it's too early to talk about that.”

Le Borgne, who joined Renault Group this year after a long career at rival PSA Group, offered a number of details about the CMF-EV platform:

• There are three battery capacities: 40 kWh, 60 kWh and 87 kWh
• With a 60 kWh and the Renault electric drivetrain, range is 450 km in mixed driving, and 300 km at 120 kph in highway driving
• LG Chem is supplying the battery cells. The chemistry, which Le Borgne described as state of the art, includes 10 percent cobalt, on the low end, although Tesla has announced a plan to remove cobalt entirely. Energy density, at 270 watt-hours per kg, is higher than industry average of 200 wh/kg.

The figures for the CMF-EV platform are similar to those reported for Volkswagen’s electric-only MEB architecture, which has an energy density of 265 wh/kg.

Le Borgne cautioned that while platforms such as the CMF-EV were making electric cars more efficient, EVs in general would not achieve cost parity with internal combustion cars for at least a decade. He said using the platform across the alliance, in Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi models, would reduce those costs.

At the same time, Le Borgne was optimistic that range and storage developments would exceed expectations. “Every 18 months to two years, you see the power density increase thanks to chemistry improvements,” he said. “Within the same ‘cocoon’ of the battery pack we'll be able to increase the power inside, or have the same power but with lower costs.”