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aprile 15, 2021 - Renault

Lego plus a touch of boldness (episode 1)

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

Using its expertise in electric vehicles, its experience in Formula 1 and with the enthusiasm and passion of its engineering, development and control teams, #renault has developed the innovative hybrid E-TECH powertrain. What is less well known is that it was invented and developed in a way that is both unusual and highly inspiring. It all started with a LEGO model, which its author, Nicolas Fremau, Renault's Hybrid Architecture Expert, agreed to look at again. 

When #renault launched the electric vehicle in 2010, it also sought to develop a hybrid technology that will provide lots of customers with a smooth transition towards all-electric. The engineers and experts must therefore propose to the company's management the ideal solution that meets the required specifications: accessible, light, suitable for vehicles of all sizes and with a minimum all-electric range of 50 kilometers. In other words, it must provide effective hybridization for all. 

The challenge was to launch a hybrid engine for Mégane and Clio that was both accessible and very simple.

Nicolas Fremau, Renault's Hybrid Architecture Expert 

ASSEMBLE IT, DRILL IT, GLUE IT 

For Nicolas Fremau, it is necessary to consider the electric motor as the main one, that will start the vehicle. But what transmission should be used between it and the ICE engine? With the obligation to keep things simple, compact and light, he imagined a radical solution: let’s do without a clutch and even gearbox synchronisers. There is a technology that makes this possible, the dog clutch, which is used in motorsport.

When I saw my son playing with LEGO Technic sprockets at home, I said to myself 'well, it's not so far from what I'd like to do'. So, I bought what I needed piece by piece to have all the assembly elements.

So, Nicolas Fremau used his Christmas holidays to make with LEGO a model of the innovative three-speed transmission that he first imagined on paper. "I had the idea of doing this first to help me understand what to do. After about twenty hours of 'work' under the slightly surprised eye of my son, the model was born," he explains. 

To do this, it was not enough to fit the bricks together. Nicolas had to assemble the different axes and transmission rings, glue and drill them to fit into a cradle, motorize the whole thing, etc. A real engineering work that allowed Nicolas Fremau to test "live" the different possible modes of operation between the engines. Better still, he discovered new ones that he had not thought of during his previous theoretical analysis. This strengthened his conviction that he was on the right track with this prototype - undoubtedly the least expensive in Renault's history - which is as surprising and unexpected as the technical solution was innovative. 

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