Australian +
Renault recently surprised friend and foe by announcing the arrival of a new Espace. The new Renault Espace, which did not seem to come for a long time, does not seem to be such a special case as before.
After five generations and almost 40 years, the curtain seems to fall for the Renault Espace. Or so we thought. The current Renault Espace is indeed going out of production very soon, but there will be a successor. Since the traditional MPV is a bit passé, we are already betting that the next Espace will be substantially different from its predecessors. That turns out to be true: the new Renault Espace will be an SUV. A well-known SUV.
Australian with more
On these two new teaser photos it is very nice to see that the Espace will be a brother of the Renault Austral. Please note; Renault itself does not confirm this yet, although it seems almost impossible to do otherwise. The light units and the curves in the sides betray the kinship, although the Espace does have a higher roof towards its rear and a more upright rear window. That is of course not just; the Espace will be a seven-seater SUV and thus essentially the roomier version of the Austral.
Renault Australia.
How spacious exactly? Well, Renault is kind enough to report that the sixth generation Espace is about 4.73 m long. That is 14 cm shorter than the outgoing Espace, but also 22 cm longer than the Austral. Renault promises that the new Espace offers more interior space than its predecessor, which is remarkable given the difference in length.
Hybrid
Count on similar powertrains as in the Austral. Since Renault gives the last ‘e’ in the name Espace a different color, electrification plays a role. As an E-Tech Hybrid, the Austral also gets such an ‘e’ after its name, so it is probably about that powertrain. Then you have a 1.2 three-cylinder in the nose that generates 160 or 200 hp together with an electric motor. You don’t have to count on a fully electric Espace for the time being. After all, there is also a new probably called Scénic electric SUV in the barrel that shares its base with the Megane E-Tech Electric. The Renault Espace shares its CMF-CD platform not only with the Austral, but also with the previous Espace and the Mégane.
Next spring we will become a lot wiser about it all, because then the curtain of the new Renault Espace will go.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl