Peter Lyon
December 28, 2025
Father Christmas must have seen that the Renault team had been good this year and rewarded them with a gift that didn’t quite fit under the tree: an electric-efficiency record for the Filante Record 2025 demo car.
A record based on real-world at an average speed of over 100 km/h
One challenge that Renault set itself at the beginning of 2025 was to drive an electric vehicle more than 1,000 km, with a battery the same size as the Renault Scenic’s, at realistic motorway speeds, without stopping to charge. The first attempt was scheduled in October but was called off at the last minute due to bad weather. The team finally pulled it off on 18 December at the UTAC test track in Morocco.
If their only goal had been to drive the longest possible distance between charges, the designers and experts could have fitted the car with a huge battery or driven it in eco mode at 30 km/h on average. But Renault was aiming more real-world with its efficiency record: it powered Filante Record 2025 Record with a regular battery (87 kWh, like the one in Scenic E-Tech electric) and tasked the drivers with keeping its average speed of over 110 km/h. The objective: to cover more than 1,000 km in less than 10 hours, including technical stops and driver changes.
Rising to this challenge entailed pushing every efficiency lever as far as it would go – maximising aerodynamics, minimising weight and optimising materials.
The car designed to break the record had to be purpose-engineered as well as iconic. The designers combined 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.
Beneath its all-new ultraviolet-blue finish, Filante Record 2025 pays homage, 100 years later, to the record-breaking 40 CV of 1925. It also gives a nod to the Étoile Filante of 1956, while weaving in hallmarks from the world of aviation. The protective bubble over the cockpit hints at a fighter jet and the driver’s position is modelled after Formula 1 single-seaters.
The single principle that guided Filante Record 2025’s design and development was to maximise efficiency and minimise electricity consumption.
Sandeep Bhambra, Chief Designer Advanced Renault, said, “The overarching goal, from the first sketches to the final test-track drive, was absolute efficiency. This 1000km accomplishment required a great deal of meticulous work on several fronts – ultra-efficient aerodynamics, of course, low-rolling-resistance tyres, lightweight materials (including carbon fibre and 3D-printed aluminium components), and advanced technical features (such as steer-by-wire, for instance). Teams of experts from Renault and its partners Michelin and Ligier worked on every aspect of Filante Record 2025’s design to demonstrate that electric vehicles can now travel long distances without recharging, even at sustained speeds.”
