A Renault shooting star on its way to the highest heights
Wow! Renault has developed an electric vessel to try and break records. It's called Renault Filante Record 2025, a reference to the 1956 Renaud Étoile Filante and the 1925 40 CV. The goal is endurance...
Torpedo shaped, Ligier blue and a promising name: the Renault Filante Record 2025 sets the scene. The demonstration concept isn't just a show car to be discovered at Rétromobile in Paris from February 5 to 9, 2025. It will also be launched in search of an efficiency record in the first half of the year. The vehicle is 5.12m long and 1.19m high, and weighs 1,000kg. Its 87kWh battery is the same as in the Renault Scenic E-Tech. It accounts for 60% of the vehicle's mass. The pilot at its controls will find himself or herself in a world inspired by aviation. He or she will steer a vehicle with minimal mechanical friction, thanks to “steer by wire” and “brake by wire” steering and braking technologies.
Record
The primary aim of the Renault Filante Record, like its predecessors the 40 CV of 1925 and the Étoile Filante of 1956, was not to break a speed record. Despite its stylistic references, this atypical car was primarily designed to reduce fuel consumption and break range records. This was achieved through reduced weight, aerodynamics and energy management. Another key element is tires. In addition to Ligier Automobiles' vehicle expertise, Renault can also count on that of Michelin. The Clermont-Ferrand-based manufacturer has developed a unique 19-inch tire mount. These materials have been chosen to reduce energy dissipation and friction. Its architecture offers excellent flattening of the tire in the area of contact with the road. What's for more, its high, narrow shape limits energy dissipation while contributing to the Filante's aerodynamics.
A little history
Renault doesn't give the power of the machine or the expected range. Returning to the twentieth century, we can recall that the 40 CV single-seater, tapered and narrow, won speed and endurance records from 1925 onwards with engineer pilots Garfield and Plessier: 3-hour world record, 500km world record and 500-mile world record. But the most emblematic was the 24-hour record: 4167.578 runs at an average speed of 173.649km/h in 1926. In 1956, L'Étoile Filante broke several speed records on Bonneville Salt Lake in the USA. It reached speeds of over 300km/h over distances of 1 and 5km, at 306.9km/h and 308.85km/h respectively.
(MH with Olivier Duquesne - Source & Picture : © Renault)