The Renault Dezir Concept is the new design direction of Renault’s future cars. It resembles the Audi E-tron concept with the side air-intake design. The front however, looks similar of the Corvette, though abit shorter.

This DeZir is an electric supercar, with the ‘Z’ in the name symbolizing zero emissions. The car will have 150hp of juice with 226Nm of torque from its electric motor, to its 4 ‘legs’ for some brutalization activity. All this mighty power comes from the vertically-mounted 24kWh lithium-ion battery, located behind the backseats. That means the battery ‘should’ be rather ‘easy’ to be accessed as it’s at the back boot of the car.

The powerful electric motor provides a driving ‘array’ of 160km. Not too bad considering Porsche’s electric sports car can only move for a few dozens of kilometers. But then, I believe the 160km must be some breeze touring in a turtle speed, typical of car manufacturers’ estimation.

Now the interesting part would be the 3 different recharging options that Renault designed when your red hot zippy electric car runs out of juice. The standard charging from a normal household plug, which we can’t really imagine, how long that would take. Overnight charging? Another option is the fast charging via 400V three-phase current, which recharges 80 percent in 20 mins. Just in time for a short tea break, and your car would be able to run for around 130km again. Now the 3rd option is a surprise. Fast battery exchange which means you drop your old battery off for a fully-charged unit. It has always been the fastest, but not the easiest method for recharging an electric car, but I never thought car manufacturers would actually go and implement it. I would imagine the huge-ass battery to be rather heavy and bulky to power up a brutal electric motor for 150hp, and the process would be rather complicated or troublesome. Seem feasible only when you’re at home, unless lithium-batteries for electric cars worldwide is standardize.

The DeZir uses lightweight materials such as Kevlar and a tubular steel frame. Driving dynamics are further egged on by a full underbody and a rear diffuser which results in a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.25. With such low wind drag, it can be sure to have good mileage even when cruising with low speed. Other neat features include KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) along with a futuristic driver graphic display.

This goes hand in hand with the exterior design which will feature gullwing doors that are hinged to different sides of the door frames, full-width front air intake that stretch from the Renault logo, along with Audi-R8-like side intakes. Akin like to the Mercedes SLS Gullwing?

Moving on inside, you will find a design synonymous to concept cars which Renault say is supposed to make you feel like you’re floating on a cloud. The new concept is expected to debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show this year.

SOURCE: [Paultan]