Exclusive: Renault Duster Hybrid to Offer Driving of 1,000 KM in a Tankful?

Even as the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) market grows, a set of carmakers are betting first on the part-electrified hybrid powertrain technology. French major Renault joins the likes of Toyota and Suzuki to bet on hybrid tech in India. The reborn Duster SUV, unveiled in Chennai on Monday, will also be its first model with a strong hybrid variant, with an ‘E-Tech 160’ system. 

Renault looks to offer a driving range of up to 1,000 kilometres in its hybrid Duster SUV. “This car is capable of driving maybe 1,000 kilometres without refuelling. With this kind of engine, that's what we're aiming for,” Bruno Vanel, VP, Renault Brand, Product Performance tells Acko Drive.

The new Duster hybrid is scheduled for a market launch in India by Diwali this year. The series-parallel hybrid architecture of the European E-Tech 160 powertrain combines two electric motors (a 36 kW e-motor and a 15 kW High-Voltage Starter Generator) with a 1.8L 4-cylinder petrol engine of 80 kW or 109 hp and mated to a new intelligent multi-mode clutchless dog box and a 1.4 kWh battery.    

The Indian version of the powertrain is expected to offer higher torque at a lower rpm, and is being tuned to suit local driving conditions.”Even if we've got the same generation of the engine elsewhere, we increased the torque here to accommodate for the Indian road conditions,” says Vanel.

‘Hybrid is the new Diesel’

The full hybrid E-Tech 160 in Europe claims a fuel efficiency level of 4.3 litres/100 km, which translates to 25 kmpl. According to Renault, the powertrain’s CO2 emission level stands at 98 g/km on its Symbioz, and 99 g/km on the Captur models.

The reborn Duster will offer three powertrain options – Turbo TCe 160, strong hybrid E-Tech 160,Turbo TCe 100, all in petrol. It will not have a diesel variant, which was the lead driver for the sales success of the previous Duster. The diesel Duster, powered by Renault’s popular 1.5L k9k engine, contributed to as high as 70% of the Duster’s sales at one point. The variant was discontinued when India moved to the BSVI emission regime from April 2020.

Renault has moved out of the diesel segment across all segments. V Vikraman, Chief of Renault Engineering in India expects the strong hybrid variant of the new Duster to more than make up for the absence of a diesel variant.   

“The hybrid is the new diesel, and the hybrid does the job much better than the diesel in terms of fuel economy. Plus we get the driving pleasure because most of the time you are in the EV mode, and the low-end torque (on EV mode) is superb,” he tells Acko Drive.

Vikraman is bullish that once customers experience the driveability of the Duster hybrid, “nobody would like to go back to the pure ICE for that matter, forget even diesel”.

A new platform, and a new set of powertrains, with hybrid tech as a major bet, the new Duster will see deliveries begin in mid April.  

An electric Duster too in the future?

Hybrid is also seen as a bridging technology to full electric. So, could the Renault Duster have a full electric version also in the future? “For the moment, given the Indian conditions, it is relevant for us to have a hybrid. You have to think also about what Duster represents. Duster is the adventure, it's the outdoors, you go very far, you need the range,” says Vanel.