Renault, dogs and Lego
Keep it simple and sustainable, these are two complex constraints for engineers to take into account when developing a new technology. Renault precisely tells the story of the origin of the dog clutch box...
15/05/2022
Keep it simple and sustainable, these are two complex constraints for engineers to take into account when developing a new technology. Renault precisely tells the story of the origin of the dog box of current hybrids, based... on Lego.
For several months now, Renault has been marketing hybrid versions of its Capturs and even Clios under the “E-Tech” name. But it was necessary to start from a completely blank sheet for this transmission which had to be simple, light and suitable for all types of vehicles, while being compatible with a simple hybrid, as rechargeable (and thus offering a 100% electric mode). Renault tells us precisely the genesis of this unique dog box: it all started with pieces of Lego.
"When I saw my son playing with small LEGO Technic sprockets at home, I said to myself 'well, but in the end, it's not that far from what I would like to do'. So I bought them piece by piece. boxes that interested me to have all the assembly elements. I had the idea to do this first to help me in understanding what to do. After about twenty hours of ' work' under the slightly astonished eye of my son, the model was born."
Problem: it was then necessary to present the cheapest "prototype" in the history of Renault to the project managers of the moment. And one of them was none other than Gérard Detourbet, the very demanding character behind the success of the Logan and the dazzling success of Dacia.
The final product alongside the "prototype""Renault has always been a very open company, especially for the Research part. But the day I brought the model to the project manager Gérard Detourbet and the Research Director Rémi Bastien, I did not know how they would react. They walked around the model, they touched it and they felt that we had a real object. And I will always remember the remark of Gérard Detourbet who said: 'If we can do it in LEGO, it' Is it going to work!'".
18 months later, a full-size version was ready to roll. This gearbox, compact and rather "simple" in design, offers the big advantage of integrating the two electric motors necessary for hybridization. Clearly, this set of mechanics and electronics could adapt to any transverse engine, or almost.