Renault SYMBIOZ Concept Car

Renault says the SYMBIOZ interior is like a lounge, but with more space than you’d expect. Even in something 4.8 metres long. We love the seats wrapped in fabric from an Aleksandra Gaca sofa and lush materials like felt, wood, marble, and even porcelain. So fancy. So French. A French fancy if you will. Autonomous mode must be active to unlock the full lounge-spec though, when the steering wheel slides away and the front seats swivel round to face the rears. More oddly, Renault says the SYMBIOZ becomes an extra room when you park it inside your home (normally only happens to Renaults when learner drivers confuse pedals), but smart-charging tech is trick – house and car share energy through a smart-grid, so the SYMBIOZ could power the house in a black-out. It’s a symbiotic… ooooh.

The SYMBIOZ gets twin electric motors, but unusually both these babies are mounted on the rear axle, giving it a punchy 661bhp. Between you and me, that’s a 0-62mph sprint that’s dusted in under six seconds and what must be pretty lurid rear-wheel-drive handling. The large (ish) 72kWh battery can be topped to 80% capacity in just 20 minutes and wafts you along for 310 miles. Choose from three drive modes by pushing the illuminated Renault logo on the steering wheel: Classic (wafty conventional French driving); Dynamic (more pep from the motor, more support from the seats, more German) and AD mode. The latter’s an autonomous setting that gives you free rein over interior layouts, including the more intimate French Kiss.