Elect'road
TheElect'Roadis aplug-in series hybridversion ofRenault's popularKangoo.Sales began in Europe in 2003, mainly in France,[1]Norway and a few in the UK. The Elect'Road was sold alongside Renault'sElectri'citéelectric-drive Kangoo battery electric van. Renault discontinued the Elect'Road after selling about 500, primarily in France, Norway and the UK, for about €25,000.[2]
The Elect'Road had a 150 km (93 mi) range using anickel-cadmium batterypack and a 16 kW (21 bhp; 22 PS) liquid-cooled gasoline Lombardini LGW523 MPI "range-extender" engine.
Although the Elect'road had a range extender it is effectively the very firstplug-in hybrid electric vehicle(PHEV). In hybrid terms it operates in ablended mode,using engine and battery power simultaneously.[3]
Passenger compartment heat is powered by the battery pack as well as an auxiliary coolant circuit that is heated by the range extender engine.
Motor
[edit]The synchronous motor does not require brush replacement (e.g. as in theCitroën Berlingo Electrique) and therefore reduces required maintenance.
Batteries
[edit]The vehicle is equipped with a Saft nickel-cadmium battery and has a range of 60 km (40 mi) to 100 km (60 mi) when in all electric mode. The battery consists of two cases underneath the chassis, one with 8 monoblocks and the other with 14. Each is fitted with a fan cooling system and has a minimum 100A·hcapacity. The 312 kilograms (688 lb) battery provides 132 V and 13.2kWh.[4]
The onboard 3.5-kilowattcharger could charge a depleted battery pack to 95% charge in about four hours from 220 volts.[5]
The battery life is guaranteed for 5 years (1500 cycles) and the cost to replace them if needed was 7000EUR[6]
Range extender
[edit]The range extender is aLombardini[7](LGW 523 mpi) liquid cooled 500-cubic-centimetre (31 cu in) 16-kilowatt (21 hp) gasoline generator. The generator used two high voltage/high output/low volumealternators,each of which supplied up to 5.5 kilowatts (7.4 hp) at 132 volts at 5000 rpm.[2]The operating speed of the internal combustion engine—and therefore the output delivered by the generators—varied according to demand.
It is equipped with a multipoint injection system and catalytic converter (consistent with the rules of euro 2000 in theMVEG cycle).[8]
The fuel tank had a capacity of10 litresand is housed within the right rear wheel arch. The range extender function is activated by a switch on the dashboard.
The Elect'road also offers a “boost” mode which provides better acceleration, by increasing the maximum power from 22 to 29 kW, together with a “snow” mode which is better adapted to driving on low-grip surfaces.[2]
When the RE engine is run all the time, the fuel economy drops to 7 liters/100 km (39 miles per imperial gallon). However, a user has found that they only needed to use it 10% of the time in which case economy improves to 3 liters/100 km (91 miles per imperial gallon).[5]
Summary of Features
[edit]- Battery
- Air coolednickel-cadmium batterybatteries, guaranteed for 5 years (1500 cycles)
- Charging time:
- 0 to 95% in 4 hours using internal 3.5 kW charger from a 220 V supply for 15 A circuits
- 2 kW charge mode is available for 10 A circuits
- Range Extender:
- Fuel tank capacity: 10 l
- Output
- Normal Mode: 10 kW
- Boost Mode: 22 to 29 kW
- Range/max-speed:
- Electric Mode: 80 km (50 mi) easily / 100 km/h (60 mph)
- Petrol Only:? km/100 km/h (60 mph)
- Electric & petrol Mode: 150–200 km (90–120 mi)/115 km/h (71 mph)[2]
- Driving Experience
- Mains cabin preheat during winter (when plugged in)
- Automatic creep (remove your foot from the brake and the van will start to move forward)
- Warning light comes on at 10 percentstate of charge
References
[edit]- ^Forum Auto (September 17, 2004)
- ^abcdRenault (December 27, 2007)"Kangoo reinvents the electric car"Archived2007-04-12 at theWayback Machine(PDF) press release
- ^Dragon Jambala (October 30, 2007)"Plug-in hybrid"
- ^Advanced Battery Technology (January 2003)"Renault Launches Electric Vehicle"accessed December 31, 2007.
- ^abHolinger, H. (2003)"Renault Electric Kangoo Can Do"ArchivedFebruary 5, 2008, at theWayback MachineEVWorld.comaccessed July 6, 2007.
- ^Marc Chapel"A user's summary"accessed December 31, 2007.
- ^Lombardini"LGW 523 mpi" Liquid cooled gasoline generator
- ^Autoline (October 16, 2002)"New model began production of electric vehicles, Kangoo - Elect'road."