Va-va-voom! Renault’s crazy new EV is an electric Batmobile

What if Batman was French? I’d like to think this is how the development of the Renault Filante Record 2025 began.

The Filante Record 2025 is a prototype electric car designed to set new records for power consumption and range. It is about as far removed from a Clio hatchback as Adam West's Batman was from Christian Bale.

Under the Batmobile body is an 87 kWh battery – the same capacity as that used by the Renault Scenic E-Tech – and an undisclosed powertrain that Renault hopes will earn it all manner of efficiency records. Described as a laboratory on wheels, the Filante is 5.12 metres long but just 1.71m wide and 1.19m tall, giving it a heady dose of visual drama. And at 1,000 kg, it’s very light too – especially considering the battery alone weighs 600 kg.

The streamlined single-seater has been created to test out new technologies, materials and innovations, Renault says. It features unique, friction-reducing tyres, along with steer- and brake-by-wire technology. The car was inspired by the 40 CV de Records and the jet-engined Étoile Filante, which were also built by Renault to smash records back in 1925 and 1956 respectively.

Far from being a computer render, the new car will be shown off at the Rétromobile Motor Show in Paris from 5-9 February, before setting out to establish a new record for EV efficiency in the first half of this year.

Renault says that the car was inspired by aeronautics, from the bubble-like windscreen and the fighter jet-style cockpit, to the exposed screw heads of the bodywork. The body and chassis are made from lightweight carbon fibre, along with carbon and steel alloys.

The car also features the use of Scalmalloy, a high-strength aluminium alloy made from scandium, aluminium and magnesium, and specially designed for 3D printing.

Renault says the Filante Record 20205 “previews a range of technologies that will be studied for use on tomorrow’s production vehicles.”

Sandeep Bhambra, director of advanced design at Renault and Ampere, said: “We designed this vehicle as a sculpture in motion. Inspired by fighter planes and the speed records of the nineteenth century, it reflects both performance and timeless elegance…The design as a whole seeks to convey an impression of flow and lightness.”