Important Innovations

  Alpine & IED's New Hydrogen Powered Supercar                                             Source:  Alpine & IED The A-4810  France-based, Renault-owned Alpine, which is a renowned race and sports car maker, has unveiled a hydrogen powered concept car that may be the top car concept of the decade.  Alpine's Design Studio created the hydrogen, electric vehicle with 28 graduate students from the Turin, Italy-based Instituto Europeo di Design (IED), which is one of the top automotive design universities in the world.  The new concept vehicle is called A4810 and it represents their vision of the future for an Alpine supercar in 2035.  It is a spectacular vision of the future of driving a sleek, stylish, sophisticated, fully loaded vehicle with cutting-edge technologies, including a hydrogen powertrain. The vehicle's hydrogen power systems emit zero emissions.   The design team says the hydrogen car "represents the extreme sportiness of the future" that is more

  The New Alpine A4810 Hydrogen Supercar                                             Source:  Alpine A4810 Design Collaboration Between Alpine Cars & IED France-based, Renault-owned Alpine, which is a distinguished race and sports car maker, and Turin, Italy based Instituto Europeo di Design (IED) have designed a hydrogen powered supercar. The first sketches of it have just been unveiled and the vehicle will debut on March 18, 2022. It is called the Alpine A4810 and represents a vision for the future of the French car brand.  The design is a very sporty, 2 seat vehicle with a hydrogen powertrain.  28 graduate students from one of the top transportation design schools in the world and Alpine's design studio created the design.  They say the hydrogen car "represents the extreme sportiness of the future" that's more technological and sustainable. Very Sleek, Low, Wide & Powerful Design The Alpine A4810 is a look at the future of zero emissions, hydrogen powered d

  Air4                                                   Source: Renault Renault Celebrates 60th Anniversary of the 4 French automaker Renault has converted its highly successful 60-year-old hatchback model car, the 4, into a flying car to celebrate its 60th anniversary.  They call it the Renault Air4.  Renault has been working with the design firm The Arsenal to build an operational prototype of Air4 that demonstrates what the flying hatchback will look like in six decades.  At the moment it's a carbon fiber concept that has been successfully flown.  The 4 has been an automotive fixture and success story in Europe for decades. Tech Specs The flying car is comprised of two components. The first component is the car body, which reflects the legendary, 4 hatchback design and style. It has one seat, a minimalist cabin and bright lights in the front and back of the car for visibility in the air.  The second component is the powertrain, with four, twin blade propellers that lift the Air

  AIR4 Flying Car Concept                                                   Source: Renault Renault Celebrates 60th Anniversary of the 4 French automaker Renault has converted its highly successful 60-year-old hatchback model car, the 4, into a flying car to celebrate its 60th anniversary.  They call it the Renault AIR4.  Renault has been working with the design firm The Arsenal to build an operational prototype of AIR4 that demonstrates what the flying hatchback will look like in six decades ahead of now.  At the moment it's a carbon fiber concept that has been successfully flown.  The 4 has been an automotive fixture and success story in Europe for decades.  More than 8 million of the iconic Renault 4 have been sold in more than 100 nations. Tech Specs The flying car is comprised of two components. The first component is the car body, which reflects the legendary, 4 hatchback design and style. It has one seat, a minimalist cabin and bright lights in the front and back of the car

    The Renault Trezor Concept Car                                                                             Source:  Renault Trezor                                                                           Source:  Renault Morphoz Exciting Look at the Future of Driving Renault's portfolio of new concept cars is extraordinary.  Of particular note is the Trezor, which some experts at the Concorso D'Eleganza Villa D'Este are calling the most beautiful car in the world.  The vehicle's design is stunning and sleek with no side doors. You just hop in.  Another concept of great interest is the Morphoz.  It is an all electric SUV that can expand 16 inches from both the front and back of the vehicle, in case, for particular journeys, bigger is better. RS 2027 Vision For Formula 1 in 2027                 Source:  Renault RS 2027 Vision Renault is also developing an eye-catching concept racing car, the RS 2027 Vision.  Renault calls it the racing car of the future for Formula 1

  The Renault Trezor Concept Car                                                                             Source:  Renault Trezor                                                                           Source:  Renault Morphoz Exciting Look at the Future of Driving Renault's portfolio of new concept cars is extraordinary.  Of particular note is the Trezor, which some experts at the Concorso D'Eleganza Villa D'Este on Lake Como in Italy are calling it the most beautiful car in the world.  The vehicle's design is stunning, curvey and sleek with no side doors. You just hop in.  Another concept of great interest is the Morphoz.  It is an all electric SUV that can expand 16 inches from both the front and back of the vehicle, in case, for particular journeys, bigger is better. RS 2027 Vision For Formula 1 in 2027                 Source:  Renault RS 2027 Vision Renault is also developing an eye-catching concept racing car, the RS 2027 Vision.  Renault calls it the racing

  Hoga - a Mini Electric Car for $6,500                                            Source:  Do It Yourself Hoga New Travel Concept, Fresh Design Hoga is an intriguing new, electric car design that buyers assemble for themselves. It is the innovative idea of Los Angeles transportation designer Ryan Schlotthauer, inspired by an imagined, hypothetical collaboration between Renault and Ikea.  The designer says it combines Ikea's design philosophy and Renault's mobility program. Hoga is a modular, ultra mini, all-electric sustainable car that is priced at $6,500.  It's designed to be assembled like a piece of furniture from Ikea. It aims to be "clever, low cost and sustainable" with no compromises on passenger safety, easy usage and spacious, usable interior spaces. Ultimate Kit Car Hoga is the ultimate kit car.  It would ship in a box like a piece of Ikea furniture for assembly.   The vehicle is ultra compact - just 2.23 meters in length.  It can be a two seater or is

French Carmaker Promises Lineup of Electric Innovation                                                                                 Source:  Renault Megane eVision French carmaker Renault unveiled a very sporty electric car concept called "Megane eVision".  The company is betting on medium sized, family vehicles to try to turn itself around and move away from losses.  Under new CEO Luca de Meo, the company is on a new trajectory with a big push on electric vehicles.  The strategy is also to focus on its most profitable models and push up prices. Innovation Packed EV's Promised The new electric vehicle has SUV style large wheels but is much smaller.  CEO DeMeo says a whole new generation of innovation packed EV's will be coming from Renault.  The new car will be the first built on vehicle architecture developed jointly by Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi called the CMF-EV platform.  The final model to go into production will be unveiled in 2021.  Renault currently mak

Morphoz 2020 Concept Source:  Renault Electric Size-Changing Car Renault's electric vehicle concept is truly unique innovation.  Their concept 2020 Morphoz can be physically expanded for a more comfortable long distance drive and contracted to get around crowded, narrow city streets. AI Smarts The electric vehicle is also incredibly smart.  It has an AI empowered smart system that enables the car to recognize its driver as he or she approaches the vehicle. City versus Long-Distance Driving The city driving size of the car is 14.4 feet long with a travel range on a charge of 249 miles.  The long distance version is 15.75 feet long.  With an additional battery onboard, the car can travel 435 miles. Future of Travel Renault executives view their morphing EV as a shared modular car owned by several drivers.  They call it the future of travel as soon as 2025.  

Leading Electric Driving Source:  Audi e-tron electric SUV World's Top EV Nation In Norway this January, the sale of electric vehicles hit a whopping 44% of all new car sales.  Norway already has the world's highest rate of electric car use.  There are forecasts that the % will climb to the 50 to 60% range during 2020.  For the full year of 2019, electric car sales represented 42.4% of the new car market.  The numbers testify to Norwegians commitment to a cleaner environment and reducing carbon emissions from car exhaust. Environmental Target for 2025 Norway wants to phase out the sale of combustion engine cars by 2025.  To achieve that, the Norwegian government has exempted battery powered vehicles from the taxes imposed on gas and diesel powered cars.  As a result, Norway is the world's #1 user of electric vehicles and a favorite among global automakers to serve as test grounds for their new EV models. Audi the Big January Winner Interestingly i

Protecting Connected Vehicles from Hackers Source:  Upstream Israel's Upstream Security Secures Millions in Funding Israel's Upstream Security has secured $30 million in funding to develop software to protect connected and autonomous vehicles from cyberattacks by hackers.  The funding is coming from automakers like Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Volvo Truck, Nationwide Mutual Insurance and venture capital firms. Upstream takes a cloud based automotive cybersecurity approach using data analytics and machine learning algorithms.  The company was established in 2017 and has received a total of $41 million in funding. New Software Market with Exponential Growth The market demand for software to protect against automotive cyberattacks is expected to reach $2.3 billion by 2025. The exponential growth is being driven by the fact that the more connectivity included in vehicles, the more vulnerable they are to hackers.  Cyber carjacking has been an issue since 2015

Fiat Chrysler and Renault in Merger Talks Source:  Fiat Chrysler Production Line Combo Would Be World's 3rd Largest Automaker The $35 billion proposed merger between Fiat Chrysler and Renault is in response to the seismic technological changes hitting the automotive industry.  Examples include autonomous vehicles and electric powered cars.  For the latest on the proposed deal go to Important Innovations Collection: Fiat Chrysler + Renault : Proposed Merger of  Equals Source:  Fiat Chrysler Surviving Together Through Massive Technology Change Fiat Chrysler is pressing its...