Not content with their landmark allegiance with Daimler (see story), the Renault – Nissan Alliance are up to it again, signing a new memorandum of understanding with Italian firm Enel and Spanish company Endesa.
The agreement was signed yesterday evening between Fulvio Conti, CEO and General Manager of Enel, Patrick Pélata, COO of Renault Group, and Hideaki Watanabe, Alliance Managing Director of Zero Emission Business Unit, while at the fifth France-Italy governments summit led by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The agreement will see the Italian power company and Spanish electricity firm work in collaboration with the carmaker’s alliance to ensure that electric cars built by two are compatible with the energy infrastructure. Furthermore the agreement will lead to the analysis of various recharging technologies and study of the entire battery life cycle.
The Renault-Nissan alliance expect that by replacing a conventional vehicle with an electric one will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 45 per cent through the current average efficiency of the Italian electricity production.
Renault and Nissan are strongly engaged in the development of electric vehicles. Between 2011 and 2012, Renault aim to launch a complete range of four electric vehicles: the urban vehicle TWIZY Z.E., the compact hatchback ZOE Z.E., the family sedan FLUENCE Z.E. and the light commercial vehicle KANGOO Z.E. In late 2010, Nissan will launch LEAF, dubbed the ‘world’s first affordable all-electric
vehicle’ for the global mass market.
