Photo: Guido ten Brink / SB-Medien
To Renault, Zoe holds a special place in the lineup for a couple of reasons. A: it’s a good electric vehicle; B: it’s the best-selling electrified vehicle in Europe, superseding the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Nissan Leaf, with 21,735 units sold last year alone.
But having made its debut in facelifted guise last year, what could Renault come up next for the Zoe? After a bit of teasing from the French marque’s part, the answer came at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. Ladies, lads, and gents, the Zoe e-Sport Concept is Renault’s idea of a supercar-rivaling EV.
Finished in the blue livery made famous by the Renault e-dams Formula E single-seaters, the bodywork of the Zoe e-Sport Concept is manufactured from lightweight carbon fiber. Including 450 kilograms worth of batteries, the subcompact bruiser tips the scales at just about 1,400 kg (3,086 lbs).
To put that curb weight into perspective, the Nouvelle Zoe with the bigger battery option weighs in at 1,555 kilograms (3,428 pounds). The result of this weight saving is an outstanding acceleration figure: 3.2 seconds from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph), as in Lamborghini Huracan quick.
Of course, weight alone isn’t responsible for all this additional performance over the street-going model. Compared to it, the Zoe e-Sport Concept has not one, but two electric motors. Combined, they pack a 462 PS (456 bhp) punch coupled to 640 Nm (472 lb-ft) worth of get-up-and-go. Regarding the matter of dynamic capability, the Zoe e-Sport has a few tricks up its sleeve.
For starters, Renault swapped the MacPherson-type strut front and torsion beam rear suspension for double wishbones all around. Then there’s the suspension system, which is furthered by four-way adjustable dampers developed by Ohlins. It’s a land missile this, make no mistake about it.
Unfortunately for the keen driver folk interested in this level of street cred from an electric vehicle, Renault doesn’t plan to put the Zoe e-Sport Concept into production as a high-performance alternative to the regular Zoe.
Finished in the blue livery made famous by the Renault e-dams Formula E single-seaters, the bodywork of the Zoe e-Sport Concept is manufactured from lightweight carbon fiber. Including 450 kilograms worth of batteries, the subcompact bruiser tips the scales at just about 1,400 kg (3,086 lbs).
To put that curb weight into perspective, the Nouvelle Zoe with the bigger battery option weighs in at 1,555 kilograms (3,428 pounds). The result of this weight saving is an outstanding acceleration figure: 3.2 seconds from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph), as in Lamborghini Huracan quick.
Of course, weight alone isn’t responsible for all this additional performance over the street-going model. Compared to it, the Zoe e-Sport Concept has not one, but two electric motors. Combined, they pack a 462 PS (456 bhp) punch coupled to 640 Nm (472 lb-ft) worth of get-up-and-go. Regarding the matter of dynamic capability, the Zoe e-Sport has a few tricks up its sleeve.
For starters, Renault swapped the MacPherson-type strut front and torsion beam rear suspension for double wishbones all around. Then there’s the suspension system, which is furthered by four-way adjustable dampers developed by Ohlins. It’s a land missile this, make no mistake about it.
Unfortunately for the keen driver folk interested in this level of street cred from an electric vehicle, Renault doesn’t plan to put the Zoe e-Sport Concept into production as a high-performance alternative to the regular Zoe.
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