Renault Sport are definitely looking into it.
While the 340kW Zoe e-sport was purely a concept, Renault seems clearly intent on bringing a high-performance variant of its popular Zoe EV compact car to market, with Renault Sport boss Patrice Ratti confirming that they are looking into the possibility.
Previously, Ratti had confirmed to Autocar that his team at Renault Sport had built a prototype, though it didn’t go very far (quite literally) due to battery performance at the time. However, “the performance of batteries has improved to the point that it is now feasible,” he said. The release of the Zoe e-sport further cemented the company’s intentions to bring such a car to market sometime soon, so it comes as little surprise that Ratti said “the studies have begun.”
While it would be easy to swap out the chassis components of the Zoe for those from the Renault Sport Clio (which has been confirmed to fit the car), it was important to Ratti that the Zoe RS felt like a true RenaultSport car in every dimension. “A Renault Sport car also needs to handle well, and that is the challenge. To have the weight of the batteries and still achieve the agility we pride ourselves on is a tough task,” he said. Usability certainly comes into focus as he revealed that battery limitations meant that the blistering Zoe e-sport could only go full-throttle for about 15-minutes or so before depleting the batteries.
“Renault has established leadership in electric vehicles, and we plan to maintain and develop that. The incredible acceleration of electric cars, that fits perfectly to Renault Sport,” the RS boss concluded. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
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