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Renault prepares for the future with new Electric & Hydrogen products and solutions Third generation Renault Kangoo launched
Renault’s Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) arm has brought much sales success and profit to the French automotive brand, particularly over the past decade. A renewed product offensive began with the development of the Kangoo Z.E., the all electric small sized van that set the standard for zero emission vans and has continued to do so. Back then the Kangoo Z.E. was honoured as the first emission free LCV to win the coveted International Van of the Year Award for 2011. Further developments to the Kangoo range have now been revealed, as well as other enhanced offerings in the electro-mobility field that will include hydrogen technology in the broader Master Light Commercial range. New Trafic van and passenger carrier versions are also on the way. Mark Sutcliffe, Senior Vice-President at the LCV Renault Business Unit recently presented the brand’s strategic extension and renewal of its LCV line-up “to answer
FLEETVAN&UTILITY | SUMMER 2021
to all professional needs”, he said. Speaking on a media webinar broadcast to 50 countries, he stated that the Renault LCV vision has three pillars: extending the services and tailor-made solutions, processes and expanding on the company’s zero-emission offerings – battery electric and hydrogen. “Meeting trends and meeting expectations are among our goals,” he added. After presenting the refreshed Master line-up in 2019, Renault is now introducing new versions of the Kangoo van, an all-new Express van, plus new Trafic Combi and SpaceClass people carriers as well as other interesting and innovative developments, according to Mark. “An expert on LCV for more 120 years, Renault has always been a leader in innovation. We now offer an enlarged and renewed range with the All-New Kangoo Van, the All-New Express Van and the New Trafic. The innovation ‘Open Sesame by Renault’ on the All-New Kangoo Van is a world premiere in the LCV world. As the leader of electric LCV in Europe, we are also preparing the future with new electric and for hydrogen products and solutions,” he said. Alas, not all of these innovations and variants will be made available in right-hand-drive – notably the Express van or the Open Sesame pillar-less side door.
New Kangoo III The successor to its best-selling Kangoo Z.E., the totally new and renamed Kangoo Van E-TECH Electric is expected by the end of 2021, equipped with a new 44 kWh battery offering 265 km of range. More than 4 million Kangoo models have been sold in 50 countries around the world. It was first launched in 1997 and like others at the time was more car like based, using shared platforms and drivetrains, while moving away from the cab-over-engine type design format which was the norm in the segment prior to then. Also available as a 5-seat MPV (Multi-Purpose-Vehicle), this original generation continued to evolve with the addition of twin sliding doors, fourwheel-drive and economical 1.5-litre dCi diesel engines. Kangoo’s main customer base was with postal services across the world and tradespeople who appreciated, amongst other things, the 2/3-1/3 rear doors and folding passenger seat with pivoting partition. In using the larger platform from the Renault Scenic car, the second generation Kangoo, launched in 2008 was 15cm longer and more practical with new features such as a flat floor with a retractable front passenger seat, a rear roof flap and modular roof bars which made loading easier. In terms of safety, the Kangoo car scored the best score in its category with 4 Euro NCAP stars. Kangoo II was refreshed in May 2013 and benefited from Renault’s R-Link connected multimedia system. Certain
