“It is exciting to be working closely with the Renault and Ampere[1] teams on such an emblematic new vehicle. With all the on-board equipment on the Renault 5 E-Tech, FORVIA is once more demonstrating the breadth of its solution portfolio, responding to its customers desire for an eco-responsible and innovative mobility,” said Thorsten Muschal, Executive Vice-President Sales & Program Management at FORVIA.

 

Sustainable products for eco-friendly mobility

With Sustainability becoming ever more crucial to consumers, Renault has made the choice to respond to this demand by packing its new all-electric car with low-CO2 materials supplied by FORVIA, such as NAFILean-R and Ecorium, which include recycled content and bio composites. MATERI’ACT, FORVIA’s sustainable materials division, supplies the Renault 5 E-Tech with NAFILean-R, a multi-awarded bio composite incorporating 20% natural hemp fibers with a matrix of fully recycled polypropylene coming from post-consumer waste. It is used for the first time on board a vehicle, for the complete structural part of the instrument panel. Developed and supplied by MATERI’ACT, together with Veolia and APM, this material offers 73% CO2 emissions reduction together with 20% weight saving without compromising on stringent specifications for resistance, crash safety and cabin air quality.

Ecorium, a premium trimming material for seats representing an alternative to animal leather, will also be available in certain models of the new E-Tech. This material, also made from recycled plastic and hemp, offers a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to traditional leather.

“The new R5 e-Tech is another milestone of RENAULT’s relentless effort to use as many recycled and renewable materials as we can. Thanks to close collaboration with project engineers and suppliers like FORVIA, we have been able to use these materials in areas previously using only virgin polymers, without any trade-off in design, performance or durability” said François Farion, Design Director, Innovation and Sustainability at Groupe Renault.

Smart innovations at the leading edge of technology

The Renault 5 E-Tech seats will be entirely manufactured and assembled by FORVIA. The H-shaped central pattern on the front seats – a design intention directly inspired by the “beast” R5 Turbo – has been developed as a single piece without supplementary tie-down. This complex technical requirement was achieved thanks to FORVIA’s unique expertise in the processing and fitting of textiles for seat covers.

Many other FORVIA flagship technologies have been selected for this new vehicle. The wireless charger developed by FORVIA allows the driver and passengers to charge their mobiles without using a cable, simply by placing them in a charging zone located on the center console. The car is also equipped with an accelerator-pedal sensor created by FORVIA HELLA.

Designed and manufactured in France

The Renault 5 E-TECH places a great deal of emphasis on technologies that are made in France. Its front and rear seats are entirely assembled in Northern France and the NAFILean-R biocomposite is fully made and processed in France. Moreover, the hemp used in the Nafilean-R and the Ecorium material is grown and processed in Burgundy.

The solutions provided by FORVIA for the Renault 5 E-Tech are more than ever showing the possibility to combine performance and convergence toward carbon neutrality.

[1] Ampere is Renault Group’s entity dedicated to EV and Software