Renault Kwid Electric: What it’ll look like

Ahead of the Paris Motor Show, French automaker Renault showcased the K-ZE concept, an electric car that is could eventually become the Kwid Electric. In the past, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn had confirmed a Kwid Electric. While Mr. Ghosn mentioned that this car was being built mainly for the Chinese car market, he also specified that it could make it to India – a country that has big electric vehicle plans.

The K-ZE concept is crossover-ish electric car, and its production model will be a global product. It will first go on sale in China, where e-GT New Energy Automotive Co, a Joint Venture with Dongfeng Motor Group and Nissan will build it from next year.

The Renault Kwid Electric (K-ZE concept’s production version) is expected to arrive into India only after 2020. For now, Renault is adopting a wait and watch policy regarding the introduction of electric cars for the Indian market. The automaker wants electric charging infrastructure to develop and battery costs to come to more reasonable levels before introducing electric cars here.

This said, the Kwid Electric is one car that the automaker has on the table. The car that will be introduced in China will have a battery range of 250 Kms per charge, which should suit most urban car buyers. The car will also have a quick charge facility. Other details remain sketchy for now.

In India, electric cars are likely to become commonplace beginning from 2020. A range of car makers are working on electric cars that will begin entering the market from 2020 and beyond. Maruti Suzuki has started testing an electric version of the WagonR, and Nissan is testing the Leaf hatchback.

Mahindra is readying up plans to launch the eKUV100 sometime next year, and is also working with Ford to electrify the Figo hatchback and Figo Aspire compact sedan. Tata Motors is also ready to bring the Tiago Electric and Tigor Electric to the market. So, we’re just a couple of years before affordable electric cars start arriving into the Indian market in a big way.