Today known in the range as the electric Mégane E-Tech, the BCB project was originally intended to embody the second generation of the Renault Zoé. Why such a turnaround? Here are the explanations
The design drawings prove it, with the name Zoé clearly inscribed on the bottom of the body, the versatile electric sedan should have been replaced by a second SUV-type version. Instead, under the leadership of Lucas de Meo, the manufacturer has revised its product plan and redistributed roles within the range. This project, known internally under the code BCB, the one which was initially to be the Zoé 2, finally gave birth to the 100% electric Renault Mégane E-Tech. For its part, the second generation Renault Zoé was clearly sacrificed. It has lost all ambition to move upmarket, all desire to venture into the field of watted leisure vehicles. In fact, the Renault Zoé 2, launched in 2019, is neither more nor less than a restyling of the first version born in 2012.
TO READ. Renault Mégane E-Tech: our video test of the big sister of the Zoé
Dress up sleight of hand in the range
In concrete terms, the BCB project, which was to embody a B-segment electric vehicle, that of urban SUVs, such as the Renault Captur, found itself propelled to the floor above on the C-segment. This explains why the Mégane E-Tech 100 % electric (4.20 m) is significantly shorter than the thermal Mégane (4.35 m), narrower and looks like a crossover. It is also this more compact format of the Mégane on plug that allows the Renault Mégane IV, launched in 2016, to retain its place in the range.. It plays a central role there, particularly for company fleets for which it is an alternative to the Peugeot 308 and Volkswagen Golf. Restyled in 2020, the Mégane IV, assembled in the Palencia plant in Spain, remains profitable. She who was to leave the scene in 2023-2024, will finally play the extensions beyond this deadline.
The R4 and R5 will have had the skin of the Zoé
Conversely, the current Renault Zoé will be pushed towards release in 2024, by the Renault 5 and Renault 4 Electric, respectively in the fall of 2024 and during 2025. A duo now embodying a very fashionable neo-retro current now at Renault, but which was not planned at the beginning of the reflections on the replacement of the Zoé. The arrival of Lucas de Meo in the summer of 2020 has shaken up the brand’s entire product plan.
The design drawings are the work of Yan Jarsallé, a brilliant designer at Renault who is the author of the lines of many successful models. On the production car side, he sketched the Mégane 3 RS, the Clio IV and its restyling, then the Renault Mégane IV, including its RS version. While on the concept car side, he signed the Renault DeZir, A110-50 and TreZor.
