Renault is delving deeper into China’s electric car
segment with the City K-ZE, which was unveiled at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show. Shown first in concept form as
last year’s Paris Auto Show, it’s a small crossover with modern exterior
styling and a driver-focused cockpit that comes with an 8-inch infotainment
system, remote access, 4G Wi-Fi, smart voice recognition and air conditioning.
Full specs have yet to be released, but Renault says
it has a fast-charging capability that allows it to fill its battery from 0 to
80 percent in 50 minutes. In slow charge, users will have to wait four hours to
get to 100 percent. It is understood that it can travel for roughly 250 km between charges in the NEDC standard, like its Venucia e30 sibling.
With a 150 mm ground clearance, 2,423 mm long wheelbase and 300-liter boot space, the new City
K-ZE is Renault’s smallest EV. It slots under the Zoe and, according to the
automaker, has been built to “high European quality standards”.
The City K-ZE is will be manufactured locally by the
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and Dongfeng joint venture, called the eGT
New Energy Automotive Co. Ltd, and local sales will start before the end of the
year. The small EV is part of the French company’s ambitions to increase sales
in China, where it plans to sell 550,000 vehicles annually by 2022, as revealed
in the ‘Drive the Future’ plan.
