Renault's new small EV platform cuts weight, costs

PARIS -- Renault’s new CMF-B EV platform, which will underpin the coming Renault 5 small full-electric car due in 2024, will share 70 percent of components with the CMF-B internal-combustion-engine platform and be 30 percent cheaper to manufacture than existing EV platforms, the automaker said.

The architecture and a new EV powertrain are undergoing prototype testing with a Renault Clio bodyshell, Renault said Thursday.

CMF-B EV will be used in at least four announced new EVs: The Renault 5 hatchback and a high-performance Alpine version, the Renault 4 small SUV, and a successor to the Nissan Micra small hatchback. The wheelbase and track can be adjusted to fit different models, Renault says.

The battery, which replaces the floorplan of the CMF-B platform, is partly a structural member, and adding weight in that position lowers the center of gravity, which Renault says creates better handling. 

Cars on the platform will be built at Renault’s ElectriCity group of factories in northern France, which now assemble two electric models, the compact Renault Megane E-Tech and the Renault Kangoo E-Tech, a compact van (including versions for Mercedes and Nissan). 

Renault is transferring its EV activities to a new company to be called Ampere, which could be listed as soon as the second half of this year, CEO Luca de Meo has said. 

De Meo is focusing on manufacturing costs in an effort to keep the price of the Renault 5 affordable, potentially under 25,000 euros. The CMF-BEV platform will be 30 percent cheaper to build than Renault’s current small EV, the Zoe. 

De Meo says that by 2025, it will take less than 10 hours to assemble a car in the ElectriCity complex, a target that Volkswagen is also aiming to hit with its coming Trinity EVs. The goal is to match Tesla.

Cost savings will come from using a high percentage of shared parts from the CMF-B platform as well as a new “three in one” packaging that combines the electric motor, the DC/DC converter and the power electronics. Renault says it is smaller and 20 kg lighter than the powertrain used in the Zoe.

Renault has not released details on the powertrain, but de Meo has said that the Renault 5 could use less-expensive lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries at some point in its life cycle. The motor – which like current Renault electric motors will not use rare earth metals – will be jointly developed by Renault and Valeo.