Flying on the heels of Tesla’s successful IPO and popular Roadster cars, Renault has released a bit of information about its new DeZir electric automobile. A luxury concept car, this electric powerhouse can be shown for the first time at the Paris Auto Show in September. The DeZir is beautiful, but it may not be able to compete with Tesla’s small yet established customer base.
New details of the Renault DeZir
The Renault DeZir hasn’t been seen on the road yet. The 100-mile range of the automobile comes from a rear-mounted engine with a Lithium Ion battery. A standard household outlet will charge the battery in just eight hours, and a quick-charge outlet will charge it to 80 percent in 20 minutes. It uses a bench seat and cockpit style design. Its zero-to-100 time is about five seconds.
Comparing the DeZir to the Tesla Roadster
The Tesla Roadster is the only all electric sports roadster on the road right now. With a range of up to 300 miles, the Tesla has the longest range of a production electric vehicle. The roadster requires a specialty charging plug, though Tesla assures customers they will be making the switch to a standard plug. Both automobiles are intended as two-door coupes and are targeting a very well-heeled market.
Seeing a DeZir on the market
The Renault DeZir is a concept automobile. The reality of numerous concept cars, though, is they don’t make it to market quickly, if at all. The Chevy Volt was introduced as a concept car. Mass market production is never hit by numerous concept cars. Even if the DeZir goes into mass production, it will most likely be showing up at about the same time as more affordably priced vehicles are available to the mass market. This means the Renault DeZir could have to carve out a niche of customers very carefully if the DeZir is to be successful.
