Renault has announced hybrid versions of two of its most popular the models, the Clio and Captur, with sales starting in June.
Powering the Captur will be a 1.6-litre engine, twinned with a 9.8kWh battery pack with an all-electric range of 30 miles. A claimed 188mpg while emitting just 34g/km of carbon.
Various driving modes are on offer with ‘Pure’ being all-electric, ‘Sport’ means both the electric motor and petrol engine work together and ‘E-Save’ uses the petrol engine and reserves electric running for when you really need it.
A ‘Smart Cockpit’ features in the Captur and features a 10-inch digital dash and 9.3-inch multimedia touchscreen. Both screens come together to monitor the driving modes, battery life, energy regeneration and charge levels – blue and green mean regenerating power and driving in pure EV mode, respectively.
In the Clio, two electric motors will work alongside the 1.6-litre engine and means it can travel up to 38mph in EV mode.
The ‘Smart Cockpit’ in the Clio has a seven-inch or 9.3-inch centrepiece touchscreen mated to Renault EASY LINK and specific hybrid modes showing the electric running and battery levels. An EV button replaces the Stop/Start button.
The new E-TECH Plug-in hybrid models are on sale in June.
Michael Docherty 