Renault is to spark up the imagination of visitors to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming weekend.
The massive festival, celebrating motorsports, will see 110,000 spectators enter for free over the course of this weekend. Renault have been a major player in motorsports at Goodwood since the mid 90’s, so this year the French marque will concentrate on its environmental and technological prowess.
The two most recent Renault concept cars, offering low or no emissions, plus a pristine 1959 electric Dauphine are all set to bask in the Sussex sunshine and delight the crowds.
In the lead-up to its first production electric vehicle in 2011, Renault’s two concept cars, Ondelios and Kangoo Z.E. (Zero Emission), which wowed the Paris Motor Show last autumn, will take pride of place in Goodwood’s ‘FoS–TECH’ pavilion.
Away from the somewhat cooler, shaded sanctuary of the pavilion, the two concept cars will also be seen in action each day of the Festival as they tackle the famous Goodwood Hillclimb in a series of demonstration drives. Electric vehicles have been around since the dawn of motoring, albeit in limited numbers, and Renault will exhibit a 50-year-old electric Dauphine.
Adapted in 1959 by the Henney Motor Company in North America, it is just one of a few survivors of the 100 produced over a two-year period.
A far cry from today’s electric vehicles, each model initially ran on a 36V system of 18 sequential 2V batteries, with a modest top speed of 40 mph and a range of 40 miles on a single charge. The five-seater tipped the scales at 1,022 kg and featured a three-speed transmission with rear-wheel drive. In 1960, upgraded 72V models were produced, offering an extended range of over 60 miles and capable of delivering a heady top speed of almost 60 mph.
Things have moved on technologically but the concept seems to have made a dramatic resurgence after falling by the wayside to the internal combustion engine some years ago.
E. Dooley
01/07/2009
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