Renault Twin Z

The Twin'Z was unveiled at La Triennale during Milan Design Week as the fifth concept car in Renault's six-petal "cycle of life." The car represents the "Play" petal, embodying the theme with a silhouette and material construction reminiscent of a running shoe.

The French company teamed up with Welsh furniture designer Ross Lovegrove—known for organic lines and crystal-clear vision—to realize the project, his first automobile design. Joining him was industrial design director Laurens van den Acker, concept car design director Axel Breun and designer Raphaël Linari. We got a personal tour with the designer who pointed out the details and behind-the-scenes inspiration.

"The great thing about Renault is that their concept cars are not far off from the real thing," Lovegrove tells us. "Most of the world is doing all this singing and dancing—it takes a lot of courage to make something that is maybe 20-25% off reality."

Given Renault's track record, we'll give Lovegrove the benefit of the doubt. The glass roof, which sweeps with illuminated LEDs when the car brakes, has earned sci-fi comparisons to the likes of Avatar and Tron. But Lovegrove's fantasy isn't indulgent or lofty. "That's a fully working car," he adds. "You could drive it home."

Twin’Z is an all-electric city car with rear-wheel drive and a rear-mounted motor, sitting on robust 18-inch wheels. Some clever technical solutions define novel style details like the rear-mounted motor and the position of the batteries beneath the floorboards, both of which make the cabin exceptionally spacious. Electric-powered doors hinged at the front and rear of the vehicle eliminate the need for a central pillar and make the opening pleasantly ergonomic.

Thankfully for Lovegrove, there's plenty of room for aesthetics in electric automobile design. Two colors intersect on the body: Blue—a tribute to French painter Yves Klein—and glowing green. The colors are matte, with just enough sheen to see the contours of the car and interact in a natural way. The shapes of lights, tires and rim follow an aesthetic of biological imitation. 

The front fog lots, for example, can be colored to become a signature of the driver or to match the driver's eye color, for example. The interior has been simplified, removing the dashboard in lieu of a smartphone that sits above the steering column. Instead of large and heavy seats are frames wrapped in 3D-woven, self-cushioning, breathable textiles. The rest of the cars functions are controlled on a standard tablet that attaches to a very minimal central console. The wheels are a particular area of interest and opportunity for Lovegrove, who noted that most rubber is actually tinted black.

So why the glass roof? "If you've ever driven through Tokyo at night in a glass-roof car, you get that flickering—you feel like you're in a movie," Lovegrove explains. The envelope around the driver, dramatized by the brake display, also enhances the feeling of enclosure. "It's all space-expanding, it's pilot-centric," he says. "All of the energy lines are coming out of the driver."

While it may look fanciful, Renault makes cars that everyone can own and enjoy, and this is a responsible car for the daily commute. Look out for design elements of the Twin'Z concept to be incorporated into the 2014 Twingo.

Audi E-Tron Spyder

The e-tron Spyder is a glimpse into Audi’s future – we already know the firm is planning a mid-engined sports car to sit below the R8, and this concept gives us the best idea of how it will look. We got an insight into how it might handle, too, as we took the wheel for an exclusive drive.

The car was first displayed at last year’s Paris Motor Show, and its wheelbase is a full 220mm shorter than the R8’s. It’s only 4.06 metres long and 1.11 metres high, but a purposeful-looking 1.81 metres wide. Audi has clearly gone to a lot of trouble to make the e-tron Spyder stand out, and it’s one of the best-looking sports cars we’ve seen; the wheels for example are each made from 66 individual parts.

Climb aboard and the cabin design is simpler, but just as stylish. There’s a set of one-piece carbon fibre seats, complete with electronic adjustment, and they’re very comfortable. Hi-tech touches include ventilation controls that blend seamlessly into the dash and can be opened or closed at the swipe of a finger.

Driving the rear wheels is a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel engine, while a pair of plug-in electric motors turn the front wheels individually. Together, they produce a total of 383bhp and a huge 1,002Nm of torque.

Not only does that mean the Spyder is capable of sprinting from 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds, but it can also run on electric power alone for around 30 miles. On our first run we were limited to the electric-only mode, and as we pulled away, the e-tron whined and hummed. But there’s a slight disappointment as you realise the car isn’t quite as quick as its looks suggest, too.

That changed when the diesel was fired into life for our second run. The twin-turbo V6 hurled the e-tron forward and, because it uses a CVT gearbox, engineers have done without the artificial gear ‘steps’ of a production car. It just revs up to the point where the most torque is and stays there while the car picks up speed.