Best concept cars of the 2016 Paris motor show

Motor shows are a lot of fun for those attending, but for carmakers they're serious business. However that doesn't stop carmakers from introducing flights of fancy concepts ranging from thinly disguised production machines to wild blue-sky thinking.

This week's Paris motor show has both ends of the spectrum and plenty in between. The big theme of the show is the electric future - Volkswagen, Mercedes and GM Opel all showed compelling cars and were talking big numbers. Here's a selection of the best.

Renault Trezor

Renault Trezor concept (Image: Malcolm Flynn)

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Renault Trezor concept (Image: Malcolm Flynn)

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2016 Renault Trezor concept.

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2016 Renault Trezor concept.

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2016 Renault Trezor concept.

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2016 Renault Trezor concept.

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2016 Renault Trezor concept.

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The French company's nutso Trezor - complete with a cantilevering roof allowing you to gain access Dukes of Hazzard-style - certainly delivered on the drama front. The low, sleek electric machine featured a bold new nose with a quite beautiful textured look that is likely to appear in scaled-down form in the next year or two.

The red glass was weird and will never make production (thank goodness) while the Formula E based electric motor is also not a certainty (though the power output would be welcome). No, the Trezor is about setting up the Renault brand for its undoubted commitment to electric vehicles.

Hyundai RN30

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5ENl3B5Fg[/video]

Hyundai is deadly serious about its N performance division, which will start with the i30 in the not-too-distant future. The i30 RN30 Concept is almost a fantasy World Rally Championship car with crazy scissor doors and a stance that makes a Le Mans car look weedy.

The RN30 sits 84mm lower than the standard road car and has the all-business approach of a proper racer. It's also got all-wheel drive and a trick new electronic differential which, being fitted to a concept show car, is largely irrelevant. The real i30N next year will be front wheel drive and pointed straight at the likes of the upcoming Civic Type R and, seemingly, Golf R rather than GTI.

2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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2016 Hyundai RN30 concept.

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BMW X2

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFeNQITXoJg[/video]

Have a good look at the X2 pics because it won't be long before we see a production version that will be strikingly similar. Front and rear bumpers will be toned down, sensible wheels and rear vision mirrors fitted and you'll actually be able to get into the thing because it will have doorhandles.

Most of the actual metal bits will be as you see here and the headlights might be slightly bigger but this is pretty much what we're going to get. And if it's the start of better-looking X cars from BMW, we're all for it.

BMW X2 concept.

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BMW X2 concept.

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BMW X2 concept.

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BMW X2 concept.

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BMW X2 concept.

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BMW X2 concept.

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Volkswagen I.D.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qBp3OnjcSc[/video]

By 2025, Volkswagen says it wants to be selling a million electric cars per year, an astonishing goal even if it is partly to distract from Dieselgate. The I.D. rolled out in the shape of something very like a Golf but rolling on a Tesla-like battery-under-the-floor platform.

The I.D. is said to have the same interior space as the much larger Passat, will have a boot in the front and will cost the same as today's Golf TDI. The platform will likely spawn many more cars, which they'll need if they want to hit that lofty target.

2016 Volkswagen ID EV concept.

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2016 Volkswagen ID EV concept.

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2016 Volkswagen ID EV concept.

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2016 Volkswagen ID EV concept.

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2016 Volkswagen ID EV concept.

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