Photo: Renault
On account of the coronavirus outbreak that has spread to more the 50 countries in just two months, the biggest auto show of the spring, Geneva, has been canceled. That means all the glamour and bling that usually would have surrounded a new car or concept launch are now gone.
This will not stop new cars and concepts from being shown though, albeit only in virtual form. For concepts in particular this is bad, as people will not be able to experience them first hand and, since very few of them actually turn into production versions, they never will.
The first to break silence and unveil in digital form what should have been shown in Geneva in the metal is Renault. The French pulled the covers off the electric Morphoz concept on Monday, March 2, and dumped a huge photo gallery online (available above).
So, what is the Morphoz? The concept is a crossover powered by electricity, designed for a future when a car has multiple purposes, from means of transportation to electricity storage. It is also autonomous (Level 3), if need be.
The car is built on a derivation of the CMF platform (a derivation called EV) used by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. It packs electric motors and a battery pack, and can be used either as a daily driver or as a shared car.
What’s new about it is the way in which Renault (taking inspiration from its Japanese allies, and using the expertise gained with second-life batteries) plans to use the car.
When used for transportation, it should do what any other car does, which is drive from point A to point B. When parked though, it can be linked to a home’s power system to provide electricity for appliances. This is not a new idea from Renault, but it is the first time we see it implemented on an auto show concept.
As for the Morphoz itself, chances are the car as seen here will never make it into production. We might be treated with some of the technologies on it, however, (detailed in full in the press release section below) on future sellable Renaults.
The first to break silence and unveil in digital form what should have been shown in Geneva in the metal is Renault. The French pulled the covers off the electric Morphoz concept on Monday, March 2, and dumped a huge photo gallery online (available above).
So, what is the Morphoz? The concept is a crossover powered by electricity, designed for a future when a car has multiple purposes, from means of transportation to electricity storage. It is also autonomous (Level 3), if need be.
The car is built on a derivation of the CMF platform (a derivation called EV) used by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. It packs electric motors and a battery pack, and can be used either as a daily driver or as a shared car.
What’s new about it is the way in which Renault (taking inspiration from its Japanese allies, and using the expertise gained with second-life batteries) plans to use the car.
When used for transportation, it should do what any other car does, which is drive from point A to point B. When parked though, it can be linked to a home’s power system to provide electricity for appliances. This is not a new idea from Renault, but it is the first time we see it implemented on an auto show concept.
As for the Morphoz itself, chances are the car as seen here will never make it into production. We might be treated with some of the technologies on it, however, (detailed in full in the press release section below) on future sellable Renaults.
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