Renault Is Turning the Espace Back Into a Van — This Time With Electric Power

Remember when the family car was a van? Renault certainly does. The company is bringing the Espace name back to that idea with the E-Space Concept, an electric van that takes some of its design cues from the original Espace that arrived in 1984.

The timing is interesting. Renault later turned the Espace into an SUV as buyers moved away from MPVs, but now the company is showing a new electric model with a much more van-like shape. It will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show, and Renault has a habit of putting its concepts into production fairly quickly.

The old Espace was all about space, and the new one keeps that basic idea. The E-Space has a short front end, a tall nose, and a straight body line that runs almost all the way to the back. The windshield is much more angled than on the original, while LED lights and a glowing Renault badge give it a very modern face.

At 4.7 meters (185 inches) long, it is about the same size as a Honda CR-V. Renault has not shown the cabin yet, so we do not know how many seats it will have or how much room is behind them. The shape suggests that this concept may use two rows, though.

There is more going on underneath. The E-Space is expected to use Renault’s new RGEV platform, which brings 800-volt electrical hardware. Renault says the platform costs about 40 percent less to build than its current architecture. Its new electric motor can make up to 271 hp, while a range-extender version could push the claimed electric driving range from 466 miles to as much as 879 miles/

Renault also has a pretty good record when it comes to turning concepts into real cars. The Renault 5 took three years, while the latest Twingo took only two. If the E-Space moves at the same speed, we could see a production version around 2028.