The Renault Emblème is an eco-friendly hydrogen hybrid shooting brake concept

The Renault Group has a target to achieve net zero carbon by 2040 in Europe and a decade later in the rest of the world, and cars like this new Emblème concept should help it get there.

You see, Renault says that using life cycle analysis, a petrol-engined Captur emits 49 tonnes of CO2 throughout its whole lifetime. That’s taking into account material extraction and component production, as well as vehicle assembly, transport, use, maintenance and recycling. The all-electric Megane E-Tech halves that, producing 24 tonnes of CO2 using the same 200,000km calculation. The goal for the Emblème? Just five tonnes of CO2 from cradle to grave. Impressive, no?

There are of course many aspects that go into producing such a small figure. One of which is the hybrid hydrogen powertrain. The Emblème is rear-wheel drive and powered by a 215bhp electric motor that uses no rare earth materials. That’s connected to a lightweight 40kWh battery, and there’s a separate hydrogen fuel cell with a 2.8kg tank that ups the total range to around 217 miles.

The shooting brake style body, flat floor, aerodisc wheels and cameras for mirrors that are integrated into the wheelarches also help reduce the total CO2 by making the Emblème as efficient as possible. A drag coefficient of 0.25 means it’s pretty slippery, and Renault reckons it has chopped out “every superfluous kilogram” to reduce the weight down to 1,750kg. Not bad for a 4.8m long car with batteries and a fuel cell on board.

Renault says that it worked with 20 partners on the Emblème concept to maximise the decarbonisation. We’re told that included exploring the use of natural and recycled materials, powering production with renewable energy and looking at how parts could be re-used. A full breakdown of how it got to that five-tonne figure will be released “in the near future”.

The Emblème remains a demo car for now though and will be shown at the Paris Motor Show later this month. Certainly not a bad looking mobile laboratory, is it?