Renault has unveiled its much-anticipated hydrogen-powered concept, and it is called the Embleme. Featuring a sporty coupe SUV bodystyle, this radical concept will serve as a preview for upcoming hydrogen-powered models by the French automaker.
Revealed ahead of its public debut at the upcoming Paris Motor Show 2024, the Embleme concept is powered by the similar hydrogen fuel cell (FCEV) powertrain setup used on the marque’s previous hydrogen concept model, the Scenic Vision.
This setup comprises a single RWD motor setup rated at 215 HP (160 kW) and a 30 kW fuel cell that is mated to a larger 40-kWh nickel-manganese cobalt (NMC) battery—the latter setting the concept apart from other conventional FCEVs like the Toyota Mirai, which only employs battery packs smaller than 2-kWh in capacity. Also setting the Embleme apart from other FCEVs is the EV-specific Ampr Medium platform the concept underpins.
The French automaker claims that this FCEV system allows the Embleme to travel 1,000 KM in the same time as any conventional ICE-powered vehicles with two five-minute refuelling stops. Meanwhile, the battery alone is capable of offering “several hundred kilometres” of range.
Despite harbouring the complex FCEV setup, the Embleme concept only weighs at 1,750 KG, making it 100 KG less than the Scenic Vision. On top of that, given Renault’s involvement in Formula One (F1) with its Alpine performance arm, it comes as no surprise that the Embleme gets some pretty elaborate aerodynamic bits and pieces, such as digital side-view cameras, an active diffuser, and many more.
Combined with the car’s sleek coupe SUV design, Renault claims the Embleme concept to boast a drag coefficient rate of only 0.25 Cd—making it lower than the Megane’s 0.29 Cd rate.
As we mentioned earlier, the Renault Embleme FCEV concept will make its inaugural public debut at the upcoming Paris Motor Show 2024, set to take place from Oct 14 onwards. We can expect to know more about this FCEV concept and the subsequent model that it will spawn in the future as we get closer to its debut date.