Renault's Horse engine unit lands extended-range hybrid contract

Horse, the combustion-engine joint venture of Renault Group, Zhejiang Geely Holding and Saudi Aramco, has announced its first extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) drivetrain contract, with a Brazilian minibus maker, Marcopolo.

It is one of the first external contracts for Horse, which builds and develops engines for Renault Group and Geely vehicles, for brands such as Renault, Dacia, Volvo and Lynk & CO, as well as Nissan.

Under the agreement with Marcopolo, an EREV powertrain based on a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine will be installed in the new Volare Attack 9 hybrid bus. The engine, which runs on ethanol, will be used to recharge the bus’s batteries.

The drivetrain was developed by Horse and WEG, a Brazilian electronics company. WEG is producing the electric motors, generator, inverter and battery packs. The drivetrain will be used in future commercial vehicles, the two companies said.

Extended-range hybrids, which have been produced by automakers such as BMW, are popular in China. The solution is getting a second look in Europe, with Ford and Stellantis among automakers considering the technology. Mazda is the only brand in Europe that currently offers an EREV, in the MX-30.

They are a form of plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) in which the electric element of the drivetrain is the primary power source, as opposed to the combustion engine in the majority of PHEVs. 

Battery sizes in EREVs are typically twice the size of those in plug-in hybrids, giving more electric range, with the combustion engine used to further boost range.

Horse announced its extended range hybrids in May, saying that they could offer about 200 km (124 miles) of pure electric range, with an additional 600 km using the combustion engine to keep the battery charged.

The Volare Attack 9 is already in production with a diesel engine and capacity of up to about 35 passengers. 

The EREV versions will go into production in 2026 with a range of 450 km from three battery packs with have a total capacity of 122 kilowatt-hours. As with most new vehicles in Brazil, the EREV’s motor uses bioethanol fuel rather than gasoline. 

Volare says says the drivetrain will offer “carbon neutral mobility for customers and operators.” 

Horse, which is based in Spain, includes all the combustion engine and powertrain operations of Renault Group as well as Geely, while Aramco is focusing on alternative fuels such as e-fuels. The company has said it expects to build about 5 million engines a year; in the future, it plans to develop common powertrains to save money. 

It formally started operations in July 2023. In May of this year, it announced its first outside contract, with the Turkish conglomerate Habas, to provide turbodiesel engines for light-commercial vans. In June, Aramco announced it would be taking a 10 percent stake in Horse, leaving Renault and Geely with 45 percent each. The transaction values Horse at $7.9 billion.