Paris Motor Show 2016: Electric cars, electric design and the changing times

The Paris Motor Show is back! And despite plenty of news hinting that most of big names in the sports and the luxury car segment skipped on it this year, there is indeed plenty that was announced today. Most of the announcements at the press event (which takes place before the show opens up to the public), involved electric and hybrid vehicles and concepts. Thanks to the Volkswagen scandal, this year has been a bit different compared to past shows with manufacturers putting a focus on all things green and electric with a few like Hyundai who braved it out with a gas guzzling concept. The Paris Motor Show does cater to Europe. With that said, it was easy to see how European automotive giants went big on electric and hybrid technologies as there seems to be plenty of competition coming from the US this year. Even with brands like Volvo, Lamborghini, Bentley, Ford and Mazda gone missing, there was still plenty of vehicles to ogle at even though most were simply concepts. What was interesting was the fact that many have promised that their vehicles would be ready by 2020. While that may seem like a long time to wait (as Tesla already has its electric vehicles up for sale), we can expect every other manufacturer including a tech giant like Apple to get their cars ready only after 2020. So with four years to go before electric vehicles become a common sight, we can at least have a look at the shapes of things to come. Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ  Mercedes-Benz at the Paris Motor Show took a big step forward by announcing not just a concept vehicle, but a new brand for its upcoming lineup of electric vehicles as well. The brand is called EQ, while the concept car to showcase some of their future ideas on electric cars was called the Generation EQ.  The Generation EQ may look like your bold and muscular SUV, just that it’s anything but that. Mercedes calls it a sports utility coupe and its all-electric! More importantly, Mercedes-Benz also announced that a production version of the same can be expected by 2020. Volkswagen I.D.  A stark contrast to the Generation EQ, the Volkswagen I.D. electric car was a more down to earth concept showcased at the Paris Motor Show. It looked practical and did not go overboard with design like others at the show.  This is not some hybrid, but an all-electric vehicle with a 125kW motor that the company claims will have a range of around 370 miles, which is pretty impressive. Volkswagen too announced that it would have its first all-electric vehicle out by 2020. Renault Trezor  Next up was the radical-looking Renault Trezor. Practicality was indeed not on the company’s list of priorities as the company wanted to show off something unique. And with a crazy design like this, they sure made the electric future look drool-worthy and fun instead of dull, subtle (and at times boring) like the others.  The electric coupe features a visor like roof that can be raised for access to the seats. Its powered by a 350hp electric motor that delivers 280 lb-ft of torque that will catapult the coupe from 0-100kph in just 4 seconds. The motor has been developer with inputs from Renault’s Formula E team. Lexus UX  Lexus had a wild-looking design concept simply called the UX. While the innards of the vehicle were not mentioned, Lexus revealed the same as a glimpse of things to come from the brand in terms of design. Yes. Lexus did confirm that its future vehicles could take up design cues from the UX SUV. Considering the design and the theme of the show, this Lexus in production form is expected to be powered by a hybrid powertrain. Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid  Another interesting vehicle to come from Porsche is the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid. It not new in terms of the design, but it comes with greener internals and is a plug-in hybrid. Those internals would include a petrol-electric combination that delivers 462hp and 516 lb-ft of torque.  That should be enough to catapult what many will still call a “hybrid”, from 0-100kph in 4.6 seconds with a top speed of 283kph. What’s the best part? Well, you don’t have to wait till 2020 for this one. Hyundai RN30  Hyundai too had its own hair-raising concept based on the recently revealed i30 hatchback. Hyundai however skipped on the green train and went on to show off its motorsport DNA with a rally car concept that sat low, wide and fast. In short, the RN30 would be our first glimpse into the hot hatch Hyundai has planned for next year , called the i30N Plus.