Renault Launches Hydrogen Car Prototype, Only Available In Market In 2030-2032

JAKARTA - The car manufacturer Renault on Thursday, May 19 launched a prototype sports vehicle (SUV) powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The launch comes as the French automaker is still struggling to catch up with its rivals in the race to produce cleaner, more environmentally friendly vehicles.

Renault announced a hydrogen car, dubbed 'Scenic Vision', not commercially available until 2030-2032. While a fully electric version will hit the market in 2024.

A fuel cell vehicle has an electric motor just like an electric vehicle, but the motor is powered by electricity generated via hydrogen, thus increasing the battery's range.

According to Renault, the 16kW fuel cell will extend the car's range to 800 km without recharging, and the battery will be twice as light, resulting in a 75% reduction in carbon footprint compared to conventional electric models.

Scenic Vision comes as Renault pushes plans to split its electric vehicle and combustion engine businesses.

Electric car pioneers from Japan such as Nissan and Mitsubishi, and Renault at the beginning of the previous decade had been eclipsed by pure players Tesla. Even far from the ambitions of Volkswagen.

Asia's biggest automakers Toyota and Hyundai now have hydrogen fuel cell cars on the market. While BMW plans to launch the hydrogen iX5 this year as a small batch series.