One hundred Astral prototypes will travel over 2 million kilometers in tests.
Last year, Renault announced that it is preparing a new C-Class SUV that will replace the Kadjar in the brand’s range, with a premiere in a few months. Now the French manufacturer has revealed details about the future model, which will be called Astral.
The company has already prepared 100 prototypes that will be tested. They will cover a total of more than 2 million kilometers, 600,000 km in real conditions on the roads of France, Spain, Germany and Romania, and 1.4 million – on the track. In testing, Renault engineers will focus on improvements to the new CMF-CD3 platform, suspension and driver assistance systems.
The new Astral will sever all ties with Kadjar not only because of the platform, but also with the removal of diesel engines from the range. Renault relies only on electrified petrol engines – 1.2- and 1.3-liter turbocharged microhybrids, powered by a starter-alternator, respectively, powered by 48V and 12V, respectively.
Thanks to electrification, the harmful emissions of the engines will be around 105 g / km, and the power will reach 200 hp. Some of Astral’s technology will be borrowed from the new Nissan Qashqai, but the interior will largely repeat that of the new Renault Mégane E-Tech, which is fully electric.
