After an exhausting couple of weeks of announcements from Renault, the cheeky French carmaker is at it again.
This time Renault is announcing that production of yet another electric concept the Fluence Z.E will take place at the OYAK-Renault Bursa plant in Turkey. After announcements for the production of an electric Kangoo van at Maubeuge Carrosserie Automobile (MCA) in northern France (see article) starting in the first half of 2011 and the Zoe ZE Concept in Flins, France (see article) and the Twizy ZE Concept in Vallodolid in Spain (see article), it seems the carmaker has a very electric future planned.
Yet it should really as no surprise that the electric Fluence should be built alongside the conventionally fuelled Fluence model, which had already been revealed as a Turkish resident. The fossil fuelled version is expected to sell in Turkey, Romania and Russia, while the electric version however will make up part of mass market range of affordable zero-emission electric vehicles expected to start retailing across Europe starting in 2011. By producing the EV in Turkey, Renault hope to keep production costs down, allowing the zero-emission saloon at to retail at the same price as similar sized internal combustion models.
If the car looks familiar, then you must be thinking of the Megane with which the Fluence has an uncanny resemblance; yet the electric model is actually slightly larger yet smaller than the Laguna. The Fluence EV is a midsize saloon that will have three battery charge options: standard charge, rapid charge and ‘QuickDrop’ battery exchange.
Renault plans to launch the Fluence EV first in Israel and Denmark, followed by other countries, from the first half of 2011.
