Renault have pulled the canvas sheets off their new concept car, the DeZir (pronounced: Desire), and have announced plans to present the car at this year’s Paris Motorshow. The DeZir is a 100% electric vehicle and uses the same battery system as the Nissan Leaf with the addition of a 148bhp mid-mounted electric motor to propel the car to a top speed of 112mph. This is the car that

Renault has said embodies their new design language so expect to see future Renault cars borrowing design elements from the car, such as the distinctive front grill (probably not the rear-opening scissor doors and mores the pity).

The DeZir uses a steel space-frame chassis and lightweight components and a kevlar body to tip the scales at just 830kg (1,829lbs), the car also has a 100 mile range (claimed) and unlike the Nissan Leaf, the battery pack is configured for quick-drop exchanges (very useful for racing). Interestingly Renault have opted to use Formula 1 derived KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) to utilise power lost under braking for a quick power boost (also useful for racing).

The rumour flying around at the moment is that Renault is actually going to build and sell this car (or a production version of it), we won’t really know if this is true till Paris in October (2nd-17th). We really like the concept but think the name is a little too 1987 and that Audi R8 style blade on both sides could do with being painted over.