Renault AIR4 turns the Renault 4L into a flying drone

To mark 60 years of the Renault 4L, the French marque has partnered with design centre TheArsenale to produce a futuristic prototype that reimagines the iconic model as a drone capable of carrying one person.

That is right. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 4L - a car that sold more than eight million units worldwide - Renault has been staging a series of initiatives throughout the year to commemorate this landmark date.

This brought us the Suite No.4, a prototype that turned the Renault 4L into a kind of hotel on wheels. Now, however, Renault has taken the idea a step further and turned it into a drone.

Simple, practical and adaptable, the original Renault 4L was likened to “a pair of jeans” by Pierre Dreyfus, the former President of the Renault Group. Even the company’s then boss is unlikely to have imagined that this model’s versatility would one day allow it to... fly.

Renault AIR4: cleared for take-off

“After a year of celebrations, we wanted to create something unconventional to bring the 4L’s 60th anniversary to a close,” says Arnaud Belloni, Renault Brand Global Marketing Director.

“This collaboration with TheArsenale came about naturally. The AIR4 flying car prototype is something never seen before, and offers a glimpse of what this icon could look like in another 60 years,” he adds.

Made entirely from carbon fibre, the AIR4 is a contemporary reinterpretation of the original 4L’s styling and even retains the dimensions of the original car. Its rigidity, however, has been completely reworked to incorporate new concepts such as thrust and lift, requiring hours of calculations and testing.

Using generative design methods powered by artificial intelligence, TheArsenale’s engineers examined terabytes of data to develop and refine the designers’ proposals before the first real-world trials had even begun.

How does it work?

As a drone, the AIR4 has no wheels for propulsion. Instead, it uses four two-blade propellers, positioned at each corner of the vehicle. The chassis sits in the middle of the frame, which also houses the rotors, while the driver enters and takes a seat in the cabin by raising the reimagined Renault 4 body shell, hinged at the front.

Technically, the AIR4 uses 22,000 mAh lithium-polymer batteries, generating a total output of 90,000 mAh. These figures allow it to reach a maximum horizontal speed of 26 m/s, equivalent to around 93.6 km/h.

With maximum vector thrust of 380 kg, or 95 kg per propeller, the AIR4 can also fly at altitudes of up to 700 metres.

Heading to the Champs-Élysées in Paris

Unveiled digitally on Friday (26 November), the AIR4 will be displayed to the public from the following Monday until the end of the year at L’Atelier Renault (pictured below), on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France, alongside other historic versions of the 4L.

From 2022, the AIR4 will travel to the United States, beginning in Miami before heading to New York, and will also make a brief stop in Macau.