While Toyota may have productionised fuel cells with the Mirai, don’t expect Renault to follow suit. The powertrain choice is between petrol/electric hybrids – options already offered in the slightly shorter Rafale coupe-SUV – or pure battery electric to create a zero emissions flagship. Given that the production Embleme isn’t expected before 2028, Renault won’t have to finalise powertrains for a while and can watch if the EV adoption curve intensifies – or if Europe’s phase-out date for petrol hybrids recedes.
Regardless, Renault will soon have a second battery chemistry in production. Its current batteries are NCM (nickel cobalt manganese) but it will be adding European-sourced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells in 2026. As popularised by Chinese car maker BYD, LFP batteries don’t need any cobalt but are typically less energy dense than NCM batteries. Renault plans to overcome this with an efficient ‘cell-to-pack’ design that crams in more cells. Switching to LFP should reduce battery cost by 20 per cent, helping boost margins and ideally bring down EV prices.
The batteries will be recyclable, in keeping with the Embleme’s philosophy – half of the concept’s materials are recycled and the carbon footprint of its components reduced by 70 per cent. This is an extreme example of Renault’s corporate commitment to increase the recycled content of production vehicles to a third of its weight by 2030.
Range and efficiency
It’s too early to talk about electric range but today’s 87kWh Scenic can travel more than 350 miles on a single charge. The Embleme sits fractionally lower and is peppered with aerodynamic touches: hidden windscreen wipers and door handles, cameras replacing wing mirrors, a front cooling vent that opens only when needed and a flat underbody with an active diffuser to minimise drag. If the latter sounds like something out of Formula 1, it is – the BWT Alpine F1 team assisted with digital wind tunnel testing.
All those drag-reducing measures are clothed in curvaceous, clean body panels that epitomise the future of Renault design. “[Embleme is from] the futuristic part of Renault, so cars with extremely desirable proportions and getting back some Latin sensuality,” says the group design director. The long wheelbase makes for a spacious occupant cell and the car is “relatively practical”, he adds.
“In the next six to nine months, it will be very clear what the next generation [of cars] should be, for 2028-29. We’re doing scenarios every day, trying to find a way,” concludes the design boss. Sounds like an innovative, electrified heir to the original Espace looms ever closer.
