Renault Scenic Vision concept asks us to re-imagine cars

This isn’t just another concept from a French automaker, this isn’t just a rehashed Avantime, oh no. This is a completely fresh take on a best selling model from Renault, a model that has been responsible for school runs and camping trips in Europe for decades. You could say that Scenic was responsible for the education of a few generations of Europeans, heck - it probably had a helping hand in creating those generations… Enjoy the introduction of Scenic Vision from Renault:

Yes, Scenic "was" a very important car for Europe, it was because Renault stopped making it last year with only Grand Scenic having its life extended until 2023. The King is dead - long live the King!

With this new Scenic Concept, Renault is reviving the iconic name, but it is changing the class of the car - it’s no longer a minivan, it is a large cross over, still with lots of room for family, camping gear, dogs and whatever else gets taken on road trips. Initially only available with one motor but there’s a high possibility the twin-motor AWD will follow and no, it won’t be another RX4, this thing with or without all-wheel-drive looks like it can take you off the beaten track any time.

The Scenic Vision lives on the Megane E-tech platform, it uses the same 215 hp electric motor (158 kW) and the same 40kWh battery. The secret to this car is under the floor where a 16kW fuel cell powered by hydrogen is hiding. It gets even better when we look at the materials used for manufacturing the car - 70% is recycled. For example - the hydrogen tank is made out of carbon fiber that has been recycled from paper waste.

There is no leather used in the Scenic Vision, instead we have low carbon recycled polyester. Majority of plastics used in the cabin are recycled and even the paint pigment has been manufactured from particles found in the air - this statement is a bit vague and most likely it means soot or other carbon based pollutants. If that wasn’t enough, after the car reaches the end of its life cycle, it is 95 percent recyclable. That my dear friends, is saving the planet in style.

Renault had put a lot of effort into making the Scenic Vision lighter despite it being a much larger vehicle - at 4,490mm length and 1,900mm width it's a good bit longer than the Megane E-tech it's sharing the platform with. To allow more room inside, the wheelbase had to be stretched by 150mm and the car ended up being 1,590mm tall - that is a serious crossover.

But a lot of hard work with new materials and smaller battery means the car weighs 1,700kg (3,747 lbs) which isn’t a feather light but it is light for the size and the range of it.

The interior, as with all concept cars, is just what we all want to have now. Sadly we won’t see those swiveling tiny screens that face the driver and most likely we won’t see the futuristic yoke - but with Tesla and Lexus paving the road to change, Renault just might experiment with something a little bit toned down.

The suicide doors are unlikely to make the production, frameless window will also probably remain bound for the concept car only. The fingerprint sensor on the door - that we may be able to see at some point. The glass roof is nothing new by now so we are definitely getting that. When? 2024 is the year that Renault is planning to bring this beauty to market and 2024 can’t come soon enough.