Renault will use refurbished electric motors to save 30%
What happens to an electric motor when it needs to be replaced due to a failure? At Renault, some of them are refurbished and returned to the road with full warranty.
What happens to the motors in electric cars when they need to be replaced? At Renault, some of them can get a second life, with performance equivalent to that of a new one and full warranty.
An electric motor replaced because of a failure doesn’t necessarily have to end its life. Starting now, Renault has a solution to recover some of these components, reduce repair costs, and at the same time minimize environmental impact.
The new program was introduced by The Remakers, a company specializing in the refurbishment of automotive components and a subsidiary of The Future is NEUTRAL — a joint venture between Renault Group and SUEZ — during Automechanika 2026 in Frankfurt.
The new refurbishment line covers the 6AM electric motor used in the Renault Mégane E-Tech, Master E-Tech, and Scenic E-Tech:
According to Renault, the refurbished motors offer performance and reliability equivalent to those of new engines and come with full warranty coverage.
The main difference lies in price. The average cost is about 30% lower than that of a new unit, allowing the component to be restored rather than replaced with a new one when its useful life ends.
The logic is relatively simple: rather than replacing the component with a new unit and sending the original one for recycling or end-of-life treatment, refurbishing allows most of its components to be recovered and brought back into the market.
This approach can become particularly important as more electric vehicles accumulate years of use and mileage and start to exceed their warranty period, when the cost of a complete replacement can significantly influence whether to repair or replace the vehicle.
Less environmental impact
During Automechanika 2026, The Remakers also presented the results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted by consultant Quantis in accordance with ISO standards and subject to independent external review.
According to this study, refurbished electric motors enable a reduction of at least 67% in environmental impact across the five analyzed indicators: climate change, use of mineral and metallic resources, acidification, freshwater eutrophication, and photochemical ozone formation.
In the case of refurbished power electronics, the reduction is at least 47%.
According to Renault, these results are particularly significant for components used in electric vehicles, due to the high degree of material reuse that has a substantial environmental impact, such as copper and electronic components.
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Only for electric vehicles?
Refurbishment isn’t limited to components in electric vehicles. The study also found reductions in environmental impact for internal combustion engines as well as manual and hybrid transmissions.
In the case of The Remakers, their offer of refurbished electric motors is combined with other available solutions, such as the 5A engine used in models like the Renault Zoe and Kangoo E-Tech.
The company, however, isn’t the only player in this area. The Future is NEUTRAL also engages in other activities related to the circular economy, including battery repair, material recycling, and the recovery of end-of-life vehicles.