This Renault EV Reached a New Benchmark in Efficiency

When engineering a new electric vehicle, there are plenty of factors to keep in mind — from a battery’s electrical capacity to the maximum speed the vehicle can reach. These things are all interconnected; an EV that can reach Autobahn-ready speeds but requires recharging every 50 miles isn’t going to find much of an audience. All of which makes a recent announcement from Renault that much more enticing in terms of what it portends for future models.

At a test facility in Morocco, Renault took a customized vehicle, the Filante, through its paces to see if it could achieve a simple goal. The automaker’s engineers sought to determine if an EV using a battery comparable to the one used in the Scenic SUV could drive for 1,000 kilometers (or 621 miles) at speeds similar to highway driving without needing to recharge. (According to Renault’s website, the Scenic has a range of up to 381 miles between charges.) On December 18, the Filante answered that question with a resounding “Yes.”

The Chief Designer Advanced Renault, Sandeep Bhambra, explained that he and his team drew on the automaker’s long history to create the Filante. “A lot like the 1925 40 CV and the 1956 Étoile Filante, Filante Record 2025 was engineered to become the first road-worthy car to drive 1,000 km at over 100 km/h without recharging, with an 87 kWh battery exactly like the one powering Scenic E-Tech electric,” he explained in a statement.

“This accomplishment took a lot of exacting work on several fronts — ultra-efficient aerodynamics of course, the low-rolling-resistance tires, the lightweight materials (including carbon fibre and 3D-printed aluminium components) and advanced technical features (steer-by-wire for instance),” he added. “Teams of experts from Renault and its partners Michelin and Ligier worked on every aspect of Filante Record 2025’s design to demonstrate that electric vehicles can now travel long distances without recharging, even at sustained speeds.”

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When the Filante was finished being put through its paces, it had covered 1,008 kilometers in nine hours and 52 minutes, no recharging required. The Filante maintained an average speed of 102 kmh, or just over 63 mph. In fact, when the test was completed, the battery was still at 11% capacity; according to Renault, it could have run for another 120 kilometers (or 74.5 miles) before running out of power. It’s an encouraging milestone for the company — and for EV efficiency in general.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…