Renault reveals electric Frendzy Concept van

This year’s Frankfurt Motor Show in September will see Renault unveil its final concept vehicle in a series of four based on the different stages of the human life cycle. It represents the world of work and is a dual-purpose light van called Frendzy.

Slightly shorter than the current Kangoo, Frendzy is zero emission with a lithium-ion battery-powered 60hp electric motor driving the front wheels via a direct drive step-less auto gearbox. It’s capable of producing peak torque of 226Nm and has a top speed of 81mph (130kph).

With the seats in ‘work’ mode it provides a load capacity of 2.3m³. The roof is ‘elasticated’ to accommodate add-shaped items. No payload figure is available at the time of writing, but the kerb weight is 1,420kg.

Body styling is asymmetrical with a sliding rear side door on the offside and a rear-hinged conventional door on the nearside. Frendzy is left-hand drive so this is pretty much a huge clue that this rear side door arrangement will never appear in right-hand drive; the re-engineering cost on a production model would be too high. Rear access is via a horizontally split tailgate.

Once the rear seats and the front passenger seat have been folded flat for ‘van’ mode, a magnetic load restraint system is revealed. We love the idea of the flexible fabric roof, but fear it will never see the light of day in a working vehicle. It would have to be knife-proof and able to withstand the constant arial attack from pigeons to survive in London; or Paris for that matter.

The cab features a large centre armrest which houses the gearstick and a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet which acts as the infotainment system.

As with all concept vehicles just some of the detailing will make it through to production, but the front-end design may be an indication of the direction being taken for the next generation Kangoo. We would like to think that Renault will ship it over here for the CV Show next April. Concept vehicles are always interesting and show visitors love them.

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