Renault's first hydrogen-powered EV will drive 500 miles per charge

French car manufacturer Renault Group unveiled their novel Scénic Vision concept car that is powered by a battery that runs on hydrogen at the ChangeNOW summit.

The French carmaker will relaunch its popular Scénic model as an electric vehicle in 2024 and aims to add a hydrogen power source to it by 2030.

This new model is part of Renault’s sustainability strategy, and with the launch of the Renaulution strategic plan, Renault Group and its brands have embarked on a major transformation, moving from a race for volume to the creation of economic, environmental, and social value, with the aim of becoming carbon neutral in Europe by 2040 and worldwide by 2050.

Scénic Vision sets a new path for more sustainable, safe, and inclusive mobility. Visionary and exploratory, it embodies the most advanced technological prospects for decarbonization and embodies the three pillars of Renault Group's sustainable development strategy: environment, safety, and inclusion.

The company also announced that the car will be made of 70 percent recycled materials, and 95 percent of the car can be recycled at the end of its life.

Renault's alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi foresees that the French carmaker pilots European hydrogen projects and production on behalf of its partners.

“All our corporate commitments are not enough if we are not taking them all the way down to our vehicles. That’s why I requested the Renault teams to come up with the 1st concept car that fully embodies our new ESG strategy and its three pillars: environment, safety, and inclusion. We called it Scénic Vision. Scénic, like our iconic “voiture à vivre”, and Vision because it fits people’s new expectations.” said Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group and Renault brand.

Hydrogen, which burns in oxygen to produce water, is seen as a good way to fuel heavy vehicles because of the weight of batteries needed to turn them electric. But as a car fuel, powering a vehicle with green hydrogen is expensive compared to using green electricity to charge a battery. 

While electric vehicles can last for up to 300 miles on a single charge, Renault estimates that by the end of the decade hydrogen will power cars for up to 500 miles.

The design 

“Scénic Vision concept-car embodies Renaulution's transformation to a greener, tech-oriented company. It embraces the challenges of climate, resource conservation, user safety and health, and accessibility. In addition to being a design object, it is a series of objectives that the Group has set for itself and that will be gradually introduced in the next generations of vehicles," said Cléa Martinet, VP of Renault Group’s sustainability department. 

Its design prefigures different time horizons for the Renault range of vehicles. The exterior reveals the shapes and style of a new family model that will be marketed in 2024. Its interior design is a forward-looking study of future Renault interiors. Its hydride electric and hydrogen powertrain reflects Renault's desire to find solutions for all types of use and is part of a longer-term vision beyond 2030. This design opens the way to new perspectives, that of a world where cars and people converge on the same values.

“This concept prefigures the exterior design of the new Scénic 100 percent electric model for 2024 and the new Renault design language. The interior design is a forward-looking study of future Renault interiors. Scénic Vision provides a suite of technologies and innovations at the service of more sustainable mobility,” said Gilles Vidal, VP of Renault Brand’s design department.

While hydrogen engines still face a number of issues, the market for hydrogen as a green power source is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, with some estimates valuing it as high as $70 billion by 2030.