Imagine a car that you can drive around in the city and when you are going for a family road trip, it transforms into a bigger car. This is the concept of the Renault Morphoz. The car that transforms to become a bigger car, when needed.
The French Automakers revealed its all-electric car at the beginning of this month. This concept car was supposed to make its debut in the now-cancelled Geneva Motor Show 2020. In light of the spread of the Novel Coronavirus, a number of shows were cancelled just like the Geneva Motor Show.
Renault Morphoz – the Car that Transforms!
Now, the Morphoz is a unique concept for future SUVs. It is essentially a hybrid between an SUV and a minivan. The most unique feature of this car is that it transforms according to the driver’s needs. Confused? Alright, imagine you are using the Morphoz to go to the office every day through the busy city roads. Now, you plan a road trip with your family and Willy (yes, you have a pet dog) the next weekend. To fit the extra stuff and provide the luxury of more space inside, the car physically transforms into a bigger! How would you like that? Pretty cool, right?
City Mode or Travel Mode? You Choose…
This is an actual feature of the Morphoz. The car can physically elongate its body to become as big as a very big minivan. When the car is in its default form, the length of the car remains at 4.4m with a 2.3m long wheelbase. However, when this transformer evolves into a travel version, the length of the car becomes 4.8m with a wheelbase length of 2.93m.
Now, the automobile is powered by a 40 kWh battery in the city form and has a range of around 250 miles (~402 KM). This mode is perfect for driving to the office and going around the city. However, the travel mode of the car creates a space for an additional 50 kWh battery, making the battery a whopping 90 kWh one. This consequently increases the range of the car to 435 miles (~700 KM). Apart from creating the space for the batteries, the travel mode also gives you much more legroom and additional space to fit two of your suitcases
Shared Battery for Every Morphoz
The way the extension works is also quite unique. The driver needs to bring the car to a pre-built battery station, where the 50 kWh battery is stored. As the driver parks the car on the battery station, the car automatically extends and opens up the undertray. The 50 kWh battery is then placed inside this tray to complete the transformation process.
After the driver finishes his trip, he can come back to the station to return the extra battery. Here, the battery is taken out and the car goes back to its default city mode. Now the battery station charges this 50 kWh battery until someone else comes to grab the battery for a trip. These battery stations can also store electricity for emergency use and power the street lights around it. So, this is like a shared battery concept that Renault plans to build in the future.
Apart from this one-of-a-kind feature, the Morphoz can also recognise its owners from a distance using AI, can charge up home appliances using the built-in battery and uses the smartphone instead of a traditional key.
Now, there is no chance that this car is coming to the market this year, or next year or even next to next year. However, according to Renault, the Morphoz “outlines the vision and business, design and product orientation of the Renault of the future.”. You can check out the Morphoz in Renault’s official website.
