Concept cars are typically flights of fancy that preview upcoming design ideas or features, but in recent years there has been an exciting increase in the number of concepts that are not only actually functional, but have been put to the test on race tracks and in the real world. You’ve got the Mercedes-Benz EQXX, which set long-distance EV range records, and the Porsche Mission R, which served as a race car test bed for electric 718 development, just to name a couple. The latest concept with its eye on real-life achievements is the new Renault Filante, a single-seat EV that will go after efficiency records later this year.
The Filante’s design and overall purpose is inspired by three different record cars from Renault’s past. First is the 40 CV des Records that first emerged in 1925, a group of awesome-looking single-seaters based on the 40 CV road car that set three-hour, 500-km and 500-mile world records, in addition to a 24-hour record of 2,590 miles covered with an average speed of 108 mph. Then there was the Nervasport des Records from 1934, an even cuter single-seater that set nine international and three world records, including a 48-hour record of 4,994 miles driven at an average 104 mph. Finally there was the Étoile Filante from 1956, a streamliner that broke a bunch of Bonneville speed and distance records, hitting 191 mph in just one kilometer.
OK, back to this new concept. Renault says it looked to aeronautical cues for the design of the Filante Record 2025 (its full name), with a “monolithic” skinny that has a bubble cabin like that of a fighter jet, a tapered rear end that’s also plane-esque, and fairings coming off the body housing the wheels. Those fairings look pretty incredible, especially with the almost completely covered wheels, and the nose of the Filante echoes Renault’s pre-war models with a sharp crease down the center and a shape like the bow of a boat. Visible screws in the bodywork are another nod to airplanes. The whole thing just looks freakin’ awesome — Renault says that styling intent was a priority, so while some concessions were made for the best aerodynamic performance, at the end of the day it needed to look good. At 201.6 inches long the Filante is nearly a foot longer than a Toyota Camry, but its 46.9-inch height makes it only an inch taller than a Lamborghini Revuelto, and it’s nearly as narrow as a Smart Fortwo.
Climb into the cabin and you’ll find a seat that “adapts to the body shape of the driver,” built from thin carbon-fiber blades and covered in a stretched canvas textile. The driver sits leaned back like you would in a Formula 1 car, with legs positioned above the batteries, and there are large glass panels on either side for a better view out. The yoke-style steering wheel is like something out of “Star Wars,” and it’s attached to the cockpit bubble to make ingress and egress easier. In the center of the wheel is a cylindrical flexible screen that shows pertinent data, and both on the wheel and mounted to the cabin on either side are a bunch of analog dials and toggle switches for various functions like drive modes and lights. Renault says the Filante has an air circulation system that ventilates the cabin without needing any technical parts.
The Filante’s chassis is made from a combination of aluminum, carbon fiber and steel, and Renault says the minimum necessary component cross-sections were used to maximize strength while keeping weight down. More complex parts were 3D printed from Scalmalloy, a special aluminum alloy, and topology optimization software was used to figure out what materials should be used where. The overall weight is just 1,000 kilograms (or around 2,205 pounds), and the 87-kWh battery pack makes up more than 1,300 of those pounds.
Renault isn’t saying much about the Filante’s powertrain, but it uses both brake-by-wire and steer-by-wire to keep weight down and free up space. There are no brake pedals, instead using an electronic control system that distributes braking force when activated by the driver. Even stranger, Renault says “when the driver turns the wheel, the system sends electrical signals to a central ECU that determines the best way to turn the car, not just with the front wheels, but also with other components such as the engine, brakes and suspension.” Michelin specially designed a set of 19-inch tires that have a 40-percent-lower rolling resistance coefficient compared to a standard car’s tires.
First up on the Filante’s docket will be a debut at Rétromobile in Paris from Feburary 5 to 9, after which Renault will conduct wind-tunnel tests this spring that will confirm simulation results and help the engineers make any necessary tweaks before the car does real-world testing. Renault isn’t saying exactly what sort of range records it’s gonna try and go after with the Filante, but we’ll learn more in the coming months.
