Renault was able to impose electric technology with the Zoe, which today is a reference. But, before the electric R5 of 1972, it was indeed the Dauphine Henney Kilowatt who brought the first stone to the building in 1959. Here is her story.
Since the Zoe, released in 2012, Renault’s electric offensive has been launched. The Mégane E-Tech recently came as a reinforcement, while a Renault 5 and a Renault 4 will complete the offer in 2024 and 2025. However, when you look in the rear view mirror, there is a Renault wattée that we had totally forgotten. And it’s not the 1972 electric R5. No, it is the Renault Dauphine Kilowatt, created in 1959 and which was produced until 1964.
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Dauphine, the ideal sedan for electric
The initiative is little known since it comes from the association of two American companies: the National Union Electric Corporation and Euroka Williams. In 1959, the American Russell Feldman, president of the National Union Electric Corporation – owner of Henney body shops and Exide batteries – ordered from the Régie Nationale Renault hundred Dauphine factories devoid of mechanical components. The American manufacturer chose the French sedan for three reasons:
- First, its stock exists in the United States, where the car is struggling to find its audience.
- Second, more frail than its American competitors, the Dauphine is lighter and will therefore be more efficient once electrified.
- Third, the position of the engine at the rear makes it very easy to mount an electric machine (mainly General Electric borrowed from Fenwick) on the axle ensuring the propulsion of the vehicle.
Baptized Henney Kilowatt, the electric Renault Dauphine was born!
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Batteries instead of the trunk
The car begins its career in carrying 12 x 6 V batteries. Thus equipped, it boasts a range of 64 km and a top speed of 64 km/h. Eight specimens of this type would have been manufactured. Thereafter, the Dauphine knew an evolution by receiving 14 batteries of 6 V, bringing the radius of action to 75 km and the maximum speed to 80 km/h. But, in both cases, the equipment took up a lot of space both under the front bonnet – which condemned the use of the trunk – and under the rear bonnet. Faced with such low autonomy, we had no intention of leaving with suitcases or luggage. Finally, its only advantage was to have a contained weight, between 950 and 1,100 kg depending on the version.
Like its gasoline-powered counterpart, this battery-powered Dauphine was not commercially successful. Only 47 environmental customers before the hour will order. Of this very low production, 32 units were sold to electrical companies. Private customers also had the option of buying the car directly from Henney. But, at the time, what would have been their interest in opting for a “small” French electric sedan suffering from poor manufacturing quality and an almost non-existent distribution network in the country of Uncle Sam? No, the ideal use was for communities or even the authorities of the State of Tennessee, who selected the electric Dauphine as a service vehicle. Today, only two copies are known to be still running. A dozen electric Dauphines are still in the United States, including this Montijo red lacquered example on display at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. The color palette also left the choice between a gray paint and a black tint. Only two Dauphine Kilowatts are currently in France, one being kept at the Renault Heritage, in Flins (Yvelines).
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