PowerTorque readers will be treated to an exclusive feature in the next issue of the magazine, when our European correspondent, Will Shiers, reports on his test drive of the Renault Trucks Diamond Echo electric demonstration vehicle which features an innovative design, painting a truck with light.
Renault Trucks’ Diamond Echo is currently touring Europe for the first time with a unique 100% electric truck and Will managed to catch up with the truck in Glasgow to put it through its paces and share his discovery with us here in Australia.
This Renault E-Tech T is called “Diamond Echo‘, featuring a unique electroluminescent design, will travel more than 10,000 kilometers across seven countries, making more than 60 stops to meet the transportation community and demonstrate the operational reality of electric mobility.
In this video, the technicians who created the design explain the complex, multi-layered process of creating this stunning design. Based on Lumilor technology, the paint, applied by Demon Paint, glows when subjected to an electrical stimulus.
Anyone considering attempting a similar paint job should listen carefully to the complexity of the four different layers needed to achieve this effect on their truck. Not only does the layering of paint need to be precise, but it also requires a complex wiring system to provide enough power to the electroluminescent paint to make it light up.
Although Renault Trucks is part of the Volvo Group, the brand is carving its own path in the European truck market, competing directly with Volvo trucks using the same, or very similar, technology in many European countries.
The brand differentiates itself from its Swedish owners by bringing a bit of that French ‘panache’ to its truck designs, something the Diamond Echo seems to have in spades.