2010 Paris Motor Show: Green Car Roundup of Concept Vehicles

By John Voelcker

685 views Sep 28, 2010

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2010 Renault DeZir Concept

2010 Renault DeZir Concept

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Just two more days to go until the official media day at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

And even before that, there's a slew of announcements, reveals, receptions, parties, and other festivities, all focused around the first event on the global autumn auto-show calendar.

Following our roundup of the new green production models unveiled in Paris, here's our list of green-car concepts.

Paris will be heavy on all-electric concepts, on both four wheels and two. In fact, every single concept on which we have advance details uses a lithium-ion battery pack and nothing more to move the metal.

There'll likely be a few more unveilings, which we'll bring you as they happen. Meanwhile, feast your eyes on les voitures.

CONCEPT CARS

Renault DeZir Concept

Now this is what a concept car should be! Low, sleek, sexy, bright red, and technically advanced too.

The stunning Renault DeZir concept shows that not all electric cars are sensible, upright hatchbacks. For our money, it might be even sexier than the 2010 Tesla Roadster 2.5 that will also be on display in Paris.

Using a 110-kilowatt electric motor--an upgraded version of the same one to be used in Renault's more sedate electric vehicles, including the Fluence ZE sedan and the Zoe ZE urban runabout--the DeZir will do 0 to 62 mph in just 5 seconds, with a top speed over 100 miles per hour.

We won't see the Renault DeZir in the States, at least under the Renault label. But rumors would have it that the DeZir could appear as a future Nissan or Infiniti model, extending the Nissan-Renault alliance battery electric technology into a segment that, for now, Tesla has all to itself.

Kia Pop Concept

Kia Pop electric-car concept, 2010 Paris Motor Show

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If you're going to show tiny cars, especially electric ones, European and Asian auto shows are the place to do it. Kia's Pop concept is for an all-electric urban three-seater that measures about 10 feet long.

That's longer than the upcoming 2011 Scion iQ, and substantially longer than the two-seat 2010 Smart ForTwo that currently defines urban runabout.

Thus far, Kia hasn't released a lot of detail about the Pop. Photos show a single piece of glass serving as both windshield and roof, and the front bench seat holds a driver and passenger, a third rider positioned behind them in a single central seat.

The Pop Concept uses themes--including the glass roof and other styling cues--from Kia's previous concept, the sleek Kia Ray plug-in hybrid sedan concept shown at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show last February. 

Audi R4 e-Tron Spyder concept

Audi e-tron Concept

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This one we don't know much about, so we're running a photo of the previous smaller e-Tron electric sports-car concept (first revealed at the Detroit Auto Show last January), which is widely assumed to be based on the upcoming Audi R4 model.

That mid-engine sports coupe is expected to spawn the all-electric e-Tron variant shown as a concept in Detroit, and perhaps a second model too: a Spyder convertible. Gee, a two-seat, fast, all-electric convertible? Sounds kinda like Tesla to us ....

For more details on the upcoming Audi concept--if it does in fact debut at the Paris Motor Show at all--stay tuned. We'll bring you photos and specifications when we get them.

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