In August 2021, L’argus revealed that the Renault group was preparing an evolution of the 1.6 E-Tech hybrid system through the adoption of a new engine. In 2023, the 1.8 E-Tech will be installed on the Dacia Jogger and under the hood of restyled Renault Clio and Captur.
Three years after its launch on the Renault Clio, the E-Tech hybrid system will welcome technical developments as we announced to you in August. Nevertheless, during an interview at the end of October, Gilles le Borgne (director of engineering for the Renault group) confirmed to us that the 1.8 E-Tech will arrive in 2023 on the Dacia Jogger. The Romanian manufacturer will switch to the hybrid era in order to respect the reduction in CO2 emissions imposed by Europe.
Efficiency and performance
Originally Nissan but reworked by Renault, the 1.6 (HR16) engine will give way to the 1.8 (HR18) whose increase in displacement and power will allow the switch to the Atkinson cycle. The latter, which uses greater rebound than compression, improves engine efficiency and fuel consumption to the detriment of power. Originally, the 1.6 E-Tech included this cycle (also used by Toyota on its hybrids) but the engineers changed their minds due to the engine’s lack of power and the emission constraints of the Euro6 d-full standard. But it was only partly postponed because, in January 2020 during a visit to the technical center of Lardy, they confessed to us that the E-Tech Evo 2 was on the rails. With the benefits of reduced fuel consumption and more torque. At the same time, Renault is working on optimizing the management of the clutchless transmission (code DB35) as well as on tips to reduce the cost of the system, says Gilles le Borgne, produced in Ruitz.
Deployment plan
Reserved for the CMF-B platform, the 1.8 E-Tech (E-Tech small) will be deployed from 2023 on the Dacia Jogger then on the new Duster and Bigster in 2024 and 2025. At Renault, the Clio and Captur will also benefit from it at the occasion of their restyling in 2023. As for the Mégane and Arkana, their future is dotted because the manufacturer has in the boxes a DJB project (Captur coupé) which should take over in 2024. Knowing that the Korean factory from Samsung, where the Arkana is produced, will manufacture Geely-based models. The diamond-shaped vehicles of segments C and D will be powered by the new 1.2 E-Tech hybrid system of 200 hp (E-Tech medium), inaugurated by the replacement of Kadjar in the summer of 2022. In 2024, a 1.2 E-Tech plug-in hybrid of 280 hp will come, the first prototype of which has just been running.
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