Renault AIR4
Renault
Boulogne-Billancourt, France
www.renaultgroup.com

Renault was founded in 1898 in France. Renault has been holding a year long celebration (during 2021) of the Renault 4, one of its most successful selling cars. Renault built over 8 million Renault 4 cars worldwide from 1961 to 1992. To conclude this celebration, Renault made a working electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) full scale passenger demonstrator using a reinterpretation of the Renault 4's car body as the fuselage.

The Renault AIR4 is a one passenger eVTOL multicopter aircraft with four propellers, four electric motors, a Renault 4 car body for the fuselage (made out of carbon fiber), powered only by battery packs and has four fixed landing struts. The AIR4 passenger multicopter has no wheels and has been flown successfully. It took the team six months to complete the AIR4 eVTOL multicopter passenger aircraft, which was unveiled on Nov. 26, 2021.

Renault (United Kingdom) collaborated with the company TheArsenale (Headquartered in Hong Kong) who created, built and flew the demonstrator. The graphic illustrators took the basic look of the Renault 4 and updated the car body with a more modern design. The new fuselage has more curves than the original boxy look of the original cars. The team also added LED lighting and added very modern vertical Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) to both sides of the front of the fuselage. In addition, DRLs are on the front of each vertical stabilizer found on the outer end of each propeller arm.

There are no doors on the fuselage. The front end of the fuselage is hinged and the fuselage must swing up for the pilot to enter and exit the aircraft. One needs to remember that this is a show aircraft (a demonstrator) and will not be used as a model for a production aircraft. The team used the bare minimum of accoutrements yet built a beautiful aircraft, to keep the weight down and to ensure the demonstrator can fly under its own power.

The Renault AIR4 will be displayed at the Atelier Renault on the Champs Elysees in Paris (France) from Nov. 29, 2021 through the end of the year. The Air4 will then make appearances in Miami (Florida, USA), New York (New York, USA) and Macau (China).

The AIR4 eVTOL demonstrator is the brainchild of Patrice Meignan, CEO and Founder of TheArsenale and is the first model of its Road to Air Division. As of 2021, Renault is not planning to use the Renault AIR4 as blueprint for a production model.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL passenger demonstrator
• Piloting: Remote control or piloted
• Capacity: 1 pilot
• Cruise speed: 58 mph (93 km/h)
• Range: Unknown
• Flight Time: Unknown
• Maximum altitude: 2,297 feet (700 meters)
• Maximum takeoff weight: 380 kg (838 lb)
• Propellers: 4 propellers
• Electric Motors: 4 electric motors
• Power source: Battery packs
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Windows: "Renault 4" car windows
• Vertical stabilizers: 4 vertical stabilizers on the end of each propeller arm
• Landing gear: Four fixed landing struts.

Resources:

• Renault website
• Renault HK website
• TheArsenale website
• Article: Where TheArsenale and Renault are going, they don't need roads, TheArsenale, Nov. 2021
• Video: #AIR4, our flying show-car, Renault UK, Nov. 26, 2021
• Article: Renault Air4 Debuts As Concept For A Classic Car That Now Can Fly, Motor1.com, Nov.26, 2021
• Article: Renault AIR4 revealed as Renault 4-inspired flying car, Real-world trials of the AIR4 "could begin", says the French maker, Autocar, Nov. 26, 2021
• Article: Renault and Thearsenale unveil AIR4: Where we're going, we don't need roads, Renault UK, Nov. 2021