Paris is known as the city of romance, and now the Renault-Nissan Alliance and EDF Energy hope that its residents will fall in love with electric cars.

The alliance and the French energy company are planning a large-scale electric vehicle test in the region that will run for one year beginning in September, 2010. During this period 100 electric passenger cars and light commercial vehicles will be in action to test their usage and performance.

The vehicles in the trial will be identical to those scheduled to be launched in 2011 and participants will be able to use a charging infrastructure at home, at work, in car parks and on the public highway.

The move is a joint initiative between the Alliance and EDF and has received support from the Paris region and Yvelines local authorities. The project has been labelled SAVE (Seine Aval Vehicules Electriques) and will be launched only once the financing necessary for its implication has been secured.

In other news, the Alliance has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Italy’s A2A, the main electricity supplier in Lombardy. 

The pilot phase involving Milan and Brescia will involve the building of recharging infrastructure; defining and trialling electronic payment services; training and educating consumers on the use of electric vehicles; and working with the authorities on implementing incentive measures.

The field trials begin in 2010.