The final all-electric Renault 5 test vehicles are being built at Renault’s Prototype Build Centre, ready for the last validation checks before large-scale production starts at the company’s Douai plant in northern France. More than 60 prototypes of the future production version are currently being made, true to the design of the final model. These camouflaged vehicles will then be driven on European roads before the final adjustments are made.
Mules of the Renault 5 – exact models of the future production version – were built from October 2021 onward. They were tested in Lapland as part of the development and testing process for Renault’s new full-electric CMF-B EV platform.
The OEM explained that the prototyping phase happens between product design and large-scale production, providing an opportunity to turn hypotheses and numerical data into tangible solutions that can be tested and validated. All software, connectors and electronics are also tested. Questions can be answered quickly and directly on-site because the all-electric Renault 5 development team are near the test center.
The Global Production Engineering Center housing the prototype facility was built 25 years ago at the Renault Technocentre near Paris, France. It is a cellphone-free zone to which only authorized Renault personnel have access. All samples of future Renault production models are developed here. The assembly methods and processes mimic real automotive production lines, enabling the manufacture of prototypes that represent future production models and supporting the industrial assembly process.
