Renault continues celebrating the 60th anniversary of the 4L, one of the brand’s most successful models, with a new project. Let us recall that the company has earlier joined forces with French interior designer Mathieu Lehanneur to turn the 4L into a mobile open-air hotel room.
This time, Renault decided to team up with motion design hub TheArsenale to create a futuristic reinterpretation of the iconic model. Titled AIR4, the new project is the first flying French car. Not a concept nor a joke, AIR4 is a real-life eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) vehicle.
The vehicle looks like a giant quadcopter with a 4L body in the middle. The original design was completely reimagined — the new body is made from CFRP (carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers) and, of course, has no wheels. Instead, there are four two-blade propellers, one at each corner of the vehicle. The chassis sits in the middle of the rota frame. The driver accesses the vehicle by lifting the whole body, which is hinged at the front, and taking a seat in the stylishly utilitarian cabin. By the way, there is only one seat inside.
TheArsenale: “A symbol of independence and freedom in carbon-fiber form, the AIR4 is born of the realization that traffic is compounding, lives are grinding to a halt, but the world above us is clear. The opportunities are endless. AIR4 claims the air as the new road for enthusiastic drivers. We embrace the notion of nostalgia meeting state-of-the-art technology; a design cocktail which, in the case of the AIR4, has resulted in a truly bespoke reinterpretation of a retro icon with entirely new dynamic capabilities.”
According to the specifications, AIR4 may speed up to 90km/h (or about 56mph) and reach the 700-meter altitude. The vehicle is powered by a 100V battery pack with a total power of 90,000mAh!
After its presentation, the AIR4 will go on public display until the end of the year in the vibrant center of Paris at the Atelier Renault on the Champs Elysées in Paris, alongside other historic versions of the Renault 4L. Beginning in 2022, AIR4 will hit American ground in Miami, then New York, before a pit stop in Macau.
BATTERY: Lithium polymer, 100V
AMPERAGE: 22,000mAh, total power around 90,000mAh
MAXIMUM VECTOR THRUST: 95kg x 4 (380kg)
TRAVEL SPEED: 26m/s (approx. 85-90km/h)
ALTITUDE: Current flight 0 to 15m, max 0 to 700m
CLIMBING SPEED: 14 m/s (restricted to 4m/s)
DESCENT SPEED: 3ms max
CLIENT: Renault
YEAR: 2021
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: TheArsenale
PHOTOS: Lionel Koretzky, Mathieu César