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John Mahoney5 Aug 2015
NEWS

Renaultsport plotting hybrid hot hatch

French car-maker’s performance arm admits it’s working on fast hybrids but they’re years away

Renaultsport boss, Patrice Ratti, has confirmed future fast Renaults could be powered by advanced hybrid powertrains that will boost power but slash emissions.

Speaking to British magazine, Autocar, Ratti admitted Renaultsport is already working on a next-generation performance-biased hybrid.

“Hybridisation could help because of the CO2 [savings]. What’s also great with electric motors is the acceleration. We’re working on it, but we cannot go too expensive with technology.”

Renaultsport is closely involved in the new Formula E single-seater series and helps develop the technology at its French HQ, near Paris. This involvement gives it valuable knowhow and a head start when applying to performance cars

When asked if an electric Renaultsport could be in the pipeline Ratti said: “The problem of a fully electric sports car is that you need a lot of batteries.

Initially ruling out an electric RS model because they need “a lot of batteries”, Ratti said pure electric vehicles will remain popular and added that he thought Renault would increase the number of EVs it sells.

“In a few years’ time,I am sure we will have three or four times the range we have today,” he said.

As far as the application of both hybrids and electric powertrains to Renaultsport-badged models, we might have to wait a little longer. Ratti told Autocar he still thought the tech would be mature enough “within five to 10 years” to be introduced in performance cars, but he also said: “In electronics you never can tell; it could be even faster than we predict.”

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