2023-09-21 07:00:00
Transforming a Crit’Air 3 diesel city car into a Crit’Air 1 plug-in hybrid for a few thousand euros is the challenge of the French company GCK.
By Yves Maroselli The Clio III 1.5 dCi should be one of the first models eligible to receive the GCK Twin-E kit in 2024. © Renault Published on 09/21/2023 at 7:00 a.m.
Millions of motorists today feel like they are in a dead end. Even though their aging diesel car is about to be banned from driving in ZFE (low emissions zone), that is to say being banned from the city centers of most large French cities. , they can only note that they do not have the means to acquire the electric models that the government nevertheless strongly encourages them to buy on a tax level.
70 km of electric range in the city
It is with them in mind that the French company GCK has developed Twin-E, a kit allowing you to transform a city car or small diesel utility Crit’Air 3 (registered from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2010) into a Crit plug-in hybrid ‘Air 1 with an electric range of up to 70 km in urban traffic. To achieve this, the designers of the Twin-E relied in particular on the work of Solution F, a company specializing in motorsport acquired by GCK in 2022.
9 to 10 kWh 48V battery
The idea is to replace the original car’s manual gearbox with a continuously variable automatic transmission incorporating a 30 to 40 kW (41 to 54 hp) electric motor powered by a 9 to 54 hp lithium-ion battery. 10 kWh installed in the bottom of the trunk (sedan) or under the floor (utility). GCK specifies that the voltage limited to 48V – which incidentally assumes a very high amperage – will facilitate the installation of the system without requiring the intervention of technicians authorized for high voltages, thus allowing a complete transformation carried out in a single day in a simple auto center, which seems ambitious.
Compatible engines Renault 1.5 dCi, or PSA 1.4 and 1.6 HDi
The first Twin-E kit, planned to be installed on Renault 1.5 dCi models such as the Kangoo and Clio III (and others to come), should be approved by the end of the year, for planned marketing in 2024. Another kit operating according to the same principle should be offered subsequently for Peugeot and Citroën models powered by 1.4 and 1.6 HDi engines. The fleet of vehicles potentially convertible into plug-in hybrids would then represent more than 3 million vehicles.
Objective less than 5,000 euros
The price mentioned at this stage is 7,500 euros including tax for the Twin-E kit fitted, but GCK hopes to be able to deduct from this sum a government bonus allowing the cost of the operation to be reduced to less than 5,000 euros, which remains high but would more or less correspond to the fuel savings authorized by this technology for mainly urban use over a period of 3 to 4 years. Indeed, provided that it has been previously recharged from the mains in 7 hours on an 8A domestic socket, or a little over 3 hours on 16A, the kit should allow 100% electric operation in town, the diesel engine starting automatically when the The battery state of charge drops below 20% or the speed exceeds 70 km/h. Beyond that, and on long journeys, we should find the appeal of a fuel-efficient diesel model with a long range since the capacity of the original fuel tank is retained. Attractive. We will not fail to return to the subject when the first approved models are available.
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