Renault has unveiled a technology demonstrator with a difference. Inspired by some of its historic speed record cars from the 1920s through the 50s, the Filante Record 2025 is intended to take on EV range and efficiency records.
Combining a low-drag design that echoes traits of the 1920s 40CV record car, the Filante Record will be constructed from a mix of carbon composites, high-strength steels and additive-manufactured Scalmaloy, with extensive usage of topology optimization techniques to reduce weight.
Impressively, thanks to a focus on lightweight construction, the car weighs in at just 1,000kg, with the Ampere-supplied cell-to-pack construction battery (with an 84kWh capacity) accounting for 600kg of that mass.
The name Filante refers to the Étoile Filante, an aviation-inspired single-seater vehicle built in 1956, for the purpose of establishing new speed records. On 5 September 1956, the Étoile Filante simultaneously broke several speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States, including the one- and five-kilometer distance records, with speeds of 306.9 km/h and 308.85 km/h respectively.
The word Record is a direct reference to the 40CV des Records, single-seater vehicles with streamlined bodywork which were narrower than the Renault 40CV, and which set a string of speed and endurance records from 1925. A three-hour world record, 500km world record and 500-mile world record were set in 1925 and a year later, a 24-hour record, with 4,167.578km covered at an average speed of 173.649km/h.
Renault has yet to reveal the targets for the new record car, which will be officially presented to the public at the Paris Retromobile show in early February.