Renault uses its experience as an early leader in electrification to create new, innovative features for electric cars every year. Most research and development has gone into making batteries smaller and increasing how much power they can hold. However, the engine has not been forgotten.
Renault thinks the engine is a crucial part of the electric cars value chain, so it has designed it all by itself. All the active components (rotor, stator, power electronics, and reducer) are manufactured and assembled at the Cléon plant (Seine-Maritime, France) with less energy and materials used. Research and development are done at the Technocentre in Guyancourt (Yvelines, France).
Renault made and patented a new electrically excited synchronous motor that doesn't need a magnet for the new Renault Megane E-TECH Electric. With this technology, the engine works better and has less of an effect on the environment. No more rare earth-like neodymium that are hard to recycle and whose extraction and processing create toxic waste. Magnets have been replaced with copper coils, and the order and position of each wire have been studied to ensure they can handle the centrifugal force of the rotor.