We don't know very much about the four objects you see in the picture here. We're not even sure that Renault's accompanying announcement - that it will launch a four-strong electric range at the
Frankfurt Motor Show - doesn't in fact refer to the French maker branching out into Gillette and Wilkinson Sword's territory.
We'll assume they actually are cars for now. Apparently they'll be ready for sale by 2012, and judging by the scale of the bird's eye view picture, the range will span from a city car to a family saloon. It has even been suggested that one third of the maker's production volume could be electric cars by 2015.
We wouldn't like to speculate too heavily, but some time ago this writer drove an early prototype of an electric Scenic powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and was suitably impressed, so we're confident any claim Renault makes about the viability of these cars is believable.
Mark Nichol - 12 Sep 2009