The Paris Motor Show in 2018 was largely dominated by electric and driverless cars. From Renault to Tesla, the biennial show was flooded with the latest technology that the big companies were starting to recognise and invest in.
Renault presented their EZ-ULTIMO luxury self-driving concept car, and it was impressive, despite being unlikely to ever reach the market.
So, will the 2022 show feature more realistic cars that prove motoring can be sustainable?
The talk of the town currently is whether BYD, the world-leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles and power batteries, will announce their European launch of EVs.
According to PushEVs, BYD reached their milestone of over 640,000 EV passenger cars in the first half of 2022. In 2018, BYD chose the Paris Motor Show to demonstrate their commitment to electrifying transport “in line with our support for the Cool the Earth by 1℃ global initiative.” We will soon find out if the global big hitter will be moving into the European motoring industry.
Between the early sixties and early nineties, over 8 million Renault 4s were built.[1] Now in 2022, Renault will be announcing their retro-inspired EV which may be named ‘4ever’ in tribute to the Renault 4 all those years ago. It is believed that the 4ever will go into production by 2025 and it is one of ten new EVs that they will launch by 2025.
CEO of Renault Luca de Meo stated, “We learned a lot by being the first to market in Europe with an electric car, but they were expensive lessons… These cars must make a profit for us.”
It will be an interesting show for Renault and its electric future.
It is expected that more than one million visitors will see the new unveiled cars at the world’s most visited car show. Will those visitors see proof that motoring can be sustainable? We will see!
[1] "News and Views: 1M Renault 4". Autocar. 124 (2651): 248. 4 February 1966