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News of  October 10, 2001

Renault unveils Ublo, an innovative alternative to the motor scooter 

Ublo

Photo: Renault

Paris - Only months after the launch of its scooter range, Renault is unveiling its first-ever «concept bike» at the Mondial du Deux Roues international two-wheeler show in Paris. The new design is the outcome of cooperation between teams from Renault Design and Renault Sport Technologies. 

Dubbed Ublo, the concept offers an innovative alternative to conventional scooters. In its quest to satisfy the expectations of motorists tempted by two-wheelers, but who are held back by what they perceive as insufficient safety levels, Renault has responded with a new «three-wheeler» offering. Backed up by strong active safety, protection, comfort and storage-capacity arguments, Ublo is likely to attract this new customer target in the years to come. Another new feature on the Renault stand is a utility version of the Renault Fulltime 125, dubbed Groomy. This first «utility» scooter is designed for professionals and will easily adapt to a company’s needs for fast transport of people or goods in the urban environment. Last, the Renault scooter range is being extended with the launch of liquid-cooled engines on Campus 50 and Kouranos 125 and 250 models.

In recent years, sustained growth in the European market for motorized two-wheelers shows that a growing band of motorists are attracted to this type of transport. The scooter market has benefited most from this growth trend, especially those models of over 50cc more especially designed for an adult market. Today’s men and women are tired of traffic congestion and parking problems and are signaling their attraction for a fast, convenient and increasingly safe means of urban transport.

To line up strong arguments with respect to primary safety, easy driving, protection, comfort and storage capacity, the designers opted to explore a «three-wheeler» answer, with one wheel in front and two in the rear. Although initially the brainchild of the Renault Design studio in Barcelona, this study was taken in hand and developed by the Renault Design team at the Technocentre, resulting in the birth of a concept bike dubbed Ublo.

As the aim is of course to make Ublo usable by car licence holders in accordance with the law of equivalences, It is powered by a 124cc, 2-cylinder, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled engine. The engine, located in a low-slung position under the seat, will be connected to an electrically-controlled 6-speed differential gearbox. Transmission to the rear wheels is via two belts fitted on each arm. A bigger engine could also be developed for selected European markets, and Renault is already exploring the possibility of developing a model powered by new, Euro 2003-compliant energy sources.

Aware of the need for vast storage capacity when on the move, Renault’s designers came up with novel solutions to achieve a storage volume in excess of 100 litres. Ublo riders will accordingly enjoy a storage capacity of 120 litres.

On the market by 2003

After this initial phase during which Ublo will be represented as a concept bike at the Mondial du Deux Roues de Paris 2001 international two-wheeler show, Renault is thinking of launching development work so that it can offer a first production model of Ublo by 2003.

(September 27, 2001)

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