New Renault Espace's return to MPV roots trailed by R-Space Lab concept
The R-Space Lab concept shows that the Espace’s SUV identity crisis is set to be reversed in the new model, around 2030
Renault has given the biggest hint yet that its flagship Espace could be reborn as an MPV – if demand picks up. The French car company has unveiled the R-Space Lab, a striking concept car which clearly picks up the MPV thread Renault abandoned in 2023, when it turned the sixth-generation Espace into a me-too SUV.
Just a typo away from E-Space, the concept car measures 4.5m-long and 1.52m-tall. That makes it 20cm shorter and 12cm lower than today’s Espace SUV, which isn’t built in right-hand drive after Renault lost faith in trying to sell big cars to Britain.
"R-Space is a source of ideas, we call it a lab car," Renault Group chief creative officer Laurens van den Acker told Auto Express at the Paris unveil. "It's focused on people's life on board." The concept features a spacious, configurable five-seat interior, and "several of its innovations will make their way into our new models," said Renault brand boss Fabrice Cambolive.
But will the entire package make production? "I'm the biggest fan of MPVs but I realise the market hasn't moved there – yet," said the design boss. Chinese people carriers such as the XPeng X9 and Zeekr 9X are bound for the UK and Europe and will attempt to swing demand away from SUVs and back to MPVs. Renault's new five-year plan, meanwhile, obsesses on countering the Chinese threat with two-year development cycles, investment in sophisticated autonomous driving systems and range-extender hybrid engines.
So the French are ready to right the wrong of the SUV Espace, assuming the concept makes it out of the ‘Lab’ and into production looking like this. The concept clearly builds on the form language of Renault’s last concept, Embleme, which Auto Express predicted was a toe in the water for the Espace’s return to its roots.
The two share curvaceous wings, an arced roofline and crossover touches such as big wheels crowned by gloss-black wheelarch surrounds, but the R-Space Lab has a closer-to-production front and rear end. The concept may be shorter and lower than an Espace, but it still packs a spacious and versatile cockpit, bathed in light by the full-length glass roof.
New platform and EV tech
That’s because it’s set to roll on Renault’s all-new RGEV Medium 2.0 platform, conceived electric-first but able to accommodate compact Range Extender (REx) EV drivetrains. Like a true MPV, the R-Space Lab is a ‘monospace’, the French term for a ‘one-box’ people carrier with a stubby nose that flows into a big cockpit.
The new platform should yield true MPV space in a smaller footprint than today’s Espace, thanks to that long wheelbase harbouring a big battery to chase a 500-mile range figure. For customers not yet ready to go full EV, a small range-extender engine which acts as a generator will fit under the bonnet. Both the Espace EV and REx will drive like pure electric cars, with the battery powering Renault’s next-generation electric motor packing 266bhp, a 25 per cent power hike over today’s punchiest motor. It's mounted on the rear axle, a big change over today's front-wheel drive Renaults.
Spacious, innovative cabin
All this cleverly-packaged tech creates a spacious five-seater concept, with three individual seats in the rear. These recline and slide back and forth, and can be pushed up against the front seats to maximise space for big loads, claims Renault. Individual seats are also a boon for fitting child seats, aided by the rear doors opening to a wide 90˚.
The front perches are pretty luxurious too, with the passenger glovebox converting into a footstool. This depends on new airbag technology being fitted into the seat, and capable of cocooning the front passenger in the event of a smash. This seat is also set on long runners so its occupant can slide back to attend to the children without getting neckache, or just relax if the ankle-biters aren’t on board.
The dashboard architecture looks conspicuously production-ready, including a wraparound digital display first previewed on Embleme and rolling out on the new BMW iX3.
And the yoke steering wheel indicates that Renault will plumb steer-by-wire into its next-generation vehicle architecture, to keep up with Peugeot, which will commercialise it on the 208 supermini in 2027. This replaces the mechanical link between steering wheel and front wheels with electronic impulses, enabling a continuously variable level of assistance depending on the car’s circumstances.
Imaginative concept car features include a ‘tactile’ alcohol detector, likely in the steering yoke, and an AI-powered co-pilot that can act like a back seat driver with safe driving tips or to explain in-car features. Hopefully that comes with an off-switch.
Renault says the R-Space Lab hints at a car of the 2030s, but given the new platform comes into service in 2028, expect the new Espace to be one of the earlier vehicles on it – although replacements for the Scenic EV and flagship Rafale coupe-SUV are higher priorities.
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