Renault Announces Plan for Battery Electric Vehicle by 2010
12 December 2006
As part of the Renault Commitment 2009, the company is working on an electric vehicle for introduction into the market by 2010. Renault is jointly developing the technology with Alliance partner Nissan.
On Monday, Nissan announced its Green Program 2010 (NGP 2010), which sets out targets for reducing CO2 emissions; reducing exhaust emissions; and accelerating recycling efforts. NGP focuses on a range of vehicle technologies, including clean diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel-cell and electric. (Earlier post.)
The Renault Commitment 2009 is also a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plan is based on three commitments: to be one of the world’s top three carmakers for low level emissions of CO2, to offer a range of models powered by biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel, and to develop a wide range of technologies, including electric power, that are affordable. (Earlier post.)
As part of Renault Commitment 2009, the company has set a precise target for 2008: Plan “120/140” is to sell one million vehicles emitting less than 140 g of CO2/km, with one third emitting less than 120 g.
Renault projects that the electric vehicle will be a solution that is ideally suited to city driving. The project has reached an advanced stage, according to the company, and Renault is already working on all the future vehicle’s components.
Renault and Nissan are working together on lithium-ion battery technology and packaging, the electric motor and the software that is needed to manage the car. Work is also underway on a process to recover energy when the vehicle brakes.
Don't they already have ev's in production?
Posted by: Richard | 12 December 2006 at 08:59 AM
A Lithium-battery electric vehicle based on Renault's Kangoo has been developed by SVE:
Cleanova
Posted by: Emosson | 12 December 2006 at 11:04 AM
What you want is a LiON Twingo or Clio (the smaller cars)
The only problem that I can see is that the Clio is now quite a heavy car, but the new Twingo looks quite funky.
If mainstream car manufacturers start to produce short to medium range BV versions of their mainstream cars, it would be a good thing.
Posted by: mahonj | 12 December 2006 at 03:03 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong but they pull this off wouldn't they be the first major car manufacturer to bring an EV to market? They might even beat Tesla to the affordable punch.
Posted by: Neil | 12 December 2006 at 04:13 PM
With Ghosn's track record on holding up hybrids at Nissan and their recent flattening of Hyperminis, I wouldn't hold your breath. Window dressing?
MES-DEA sell a Zebra powered version of the Twingo and Fiat Panda. Works in the Italian market because buyers get a 65% subsidy for EVs. That will look well worth while when Peak Oil really starts biting - the Italians had better start major investment in renewable energy because they produce a ridiculous amount of their electricity from oil fired power stations. Oh dear.
As I keep "banging on" - let's use Zebras now and leave the LiIon hype till a decent battery is produced. Zebra - 120Wh/kg today and less than $200/kWh in medium production. Makes your 5 - 10kWh PHEV battery nice and affordable.
Posted by: Emphyrio | 12 December 2006 at 04:20 PM
emphyrio:
I didn't know that Nickel Sodium Cloride (Zebra) battery packs price had dropped below $200/Kwh and that performance had been raised from 90 Wh/Kg to 120 Wh/Kg.
I understand that the 20 KWh pack still weights about 450 lbs and will last up to 1500 cycles and/or 5 years. Others pretend that 3000 cycles or 8 years will be possible shortly. Adding a supercap would help to extend the battery's life and recouperating more braking-decellerating power. This may add another 400 lbs.
A smaller (12 +/- Kwh @ $2500) pack should be enough for a small PHEV and a 20 KWh pack for a standard car size PHEV.
On the possitive side, the heat generated by the Zebra pack is suffisant the heat a large car cabin in cold Canadian weather. Air conditionning would require an energy converter to transform waste heat into useful energy.
Posted by: Harvey D. | 12 December 2006 at 06:24 PM
Emphyrio -
Zebra batteries do indeed make sense for near-term applications, especially since they can operate quite well in cold weather. Harvey's suggestion of extending their life expectancy via supercaps is very pertinent to pure BEV and PHEV applications, which require extreme longevity in spite of deep cycling. One way to achieve that is to reduce the short burst power requirement from the battery. In addition, supercaps easily outperform all batteries wrt recuperative braking.
Even so, most carmakers are still hesitant to offer compact and mid-sized vehicles featuring a really big battery of any kind. Beyond the relatively small addressable market of well-heeled technology freaks and environmental enthusiasts, a lot of consumer education and a track record will be required before Joe Average decides to shell out an extra $10k or so up front in the hope of recouping that through lower fuel bills.
Fleet operators have a better handle on their actual usage patterns but they are stingy and require reliability above all else. In this context, that includes the risk of premature battery failures. Carmakers will likely have to assume a large portion of that risk through warranties covering e.g. 80,000 miles or 8 years, whichever comes first. That is a very high barrier to bringing large battery packs to market in the first place, a major reason why there are still so few HEVs and no mass-produced PHEVs worth the name at all.
Posted by: Rafael Seidl | 13 December 2006 at 07:29 AM
what is the cost of a typical 20 KWh zebra battery could anyone tell, and where can I get them from, I need it badly for my R&D purpose ?
Can u tell me on my mail
[email protected]
Thanx in advance.
Posted by: abhinav | 23 August 2007 at 01:02 PM
"If mainstream car manufacturers start to produce short to medium range BV versions of their mainstream cars, it would be a good thing."
- They did - see the Peugeot 106 electrique, Saxo and Clio, Berlingo and Partner models. 50 miles range, 60 mph top speed, nicad batteries. Good cars, I have one as my main vehicle.
Posted by: evan tuer | 16 October 2007 at 01:35 AM