A dramatic EV concept developed by Renault has set an electric efficiency record in everyday driving conditions.

Renault Filante Record 2025

The Renault Filante Record 2025 electric demo car managed 1,008km (626 miles) in less than 10 hours, at an average speed of 102km/h (63mph) and a consumption of 7.8kWh/100km (7.97mpkWh), with an 87kWh battery – the same size as the one powering Scenic E-Tech electric – showing that this level of range is achievable in motorway-like conditions

At the finish, Filante Record 2025 still had 11% battery capacity remaining, which would allow it to travel an additional 120km (74 miles) at speeds over 100km/h.

The efficiency record was set at the UTAC test track in Morocco and achieved without fitting the car with a huge battery or driving it in eco mode at unrealistically low speeds. Instead, Renault’s mission was to drive an electric vehicle more than 1,000km, with a battery the same size as Scenic’s, at real-life motorway speeds, without stopping to charge.

The record-breaking achievement was achieved thanks to work to maximise aerodynamics, minimise weight and optimise materials, but the designers also created an iconic, aircraft-inspired tribute to Renault’s heritage. The Filante combines striking looks with Renault’s lineage, drawing inspiration from the brand’s models that have set records for efficiency, speed and endurance to create a car that “bridges yesterday and tomorrow”.

The first Filante Record 2025 version, unveiled at the Rétromobile trade show last winter, already had a silhouette intertwining aircraft-like lines and cues from Renault’s heritage models. Wind-tunnel tests last spring, however, revealed significant potential for optimisation, underlining the vital role of aerodynamics in the car’s efficiency.

Described as a “lab on wheels to test electric-drive efficiency”, the EV concept weighs only 1,000kg and is packed with cutting-edge steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire technology, ultra-light materials, 3D-printed components and more.

With its unique ultraviolet blue colour, the Filante Record 2025 pays tribute, 100 years later, to the record-breaking 40 CV of 1925. It also gives a nod to the Étoile Filante.

As you might imagine, there’s no plans for the Filante to go into production but Renault has said it provides “a vision to shape the future, and the innovation to power it”.

The French brand tells us the findings from this venture will inform the development of future road-going electric models, “enabling them to achieve ever higher levels of efficiency and meet customers’ real-life needs ever more closely – even in the most demanding conditions, such as sustained highway speeds”.