France Green Car Advisor Blog on Edmunds' Inside Line

November 3, 2009

Nissan Reported Ready To Pump $550 Million Into Lithium-Ion Battery Plants

Nissan is ready to pump $220 million into its existing Japanese battery joint venture and an additional $330 million into a new lithium-ion battery factory in France that it would own with partner Renault, the Nikkei news service in Japan is reporting.

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Renault Fluence ZE concept is stylized version of EV the French automaker plans to start selling in Israel in 2011.
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Renault-Nissan Alliance chief Carlos Ghosn said just last month that the two companies were considering France as the location for a new battery plant, so the news from the Nikkei seems reasonable.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (2); John O'Dell November 3, 2009, 11:41 AM
Categories:: Batteries, France, Japan, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault
Technorati Tags:: Electric Vehicle Batteries

October 27, 2009

Renault-Nissan Alliance Eyes France for Another Lithium-ion Battery Factory

Nissan and Renault, which plan to be the first major car makers to launch mass-produced electric vehicles for sale globally, also are planning on building their own battery packs using technology developed in Nissan's Japanese R&D center.

The companies so far have formally announced plans to build battery factories in the U.S., Portugal and England to support their EV effort, and now France -home to Renault - has been added to the list, kind of.

Carlos Ghosn, who heads both automakers (each owns a piece of the other and Renault has controlling interest in Nissan) said during a management forum in Tokyo this morning that it would be logical to "suspect that France is also a place where we are going to build some batteries" to support the 2012 launch of the companies' global EVs.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell October 27, 2009, 9:22 AM
Categories:: Batteries, France, Nissan, Renault
Technorati Tags:: Lithium Ion Batteries

October 1, 2009

French EV Plan Calls for 2 Million Cars, 4 Million Chargers by 2020

Renault Fluence ZE unveiled.jpg

Say goodbye to those storied noisy streets of Paris.

The French government today committed 1.5 billion euros ($2.2 billion) to a 10-year plan to help put 2 million electric cars on the road by 2020.

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Renault showed this Fluence ZE electric car concept at the recent Frankfurt Auto Show, vowed to have EVs on sale in France by 2012.

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The funds will help pay for manufacturer and buyer subsidies, a nationwide network of more than 4 million EV charging stations, and subsidies for battery manufacturing and industrial research.

It Takes a Nation

"No player can take the risk alone, but if all the actors take it at the same time, that works," France's Ecology Minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, said at a press conference in Paris today. He was accompanied by executives from French carmakers Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen, both of which have pledged to begin selling electric vehicles in France by 2012.

Borloo said that the funding will help install a million EV charging points by 2015 - mainly in private residences but also in car parks and select locations on busy highway.

But beginning in 2012, the government will require all new apartment developments in the country to install charging stations to being the nationwide total to 4 million by 2020.

That's two per vehicle and an indication that France, which produces most of its electricity in nuclear power plants, expects the total number of EVs and plug-in hybrids to grow beyond the 2 million goal.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell October 1, 2009, 5:47 PM
Categories:: Citroen, France, Peugeot, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault
Technorati Tags:: Electric Cars

July 10, 2009

PSA Peugeot Citroen Says It Is Not Working With Mitsubishi on Hybrid Components

One joint effort is, apparently, enough.

France's PSA Peugeot Citroen has issued a denial of a report for Japan's Nikkei business news that it is collaborating with Mitsubishi Motors on development of hybrid powertrain components.

"We deny the information...We have our own research into plug-in hybrids," PSA Peugeot Citroen sad in a statement.

The French automaker said the two companies will, however, continue their collaboration on a small electric vehicle that the French company would market in Europe.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell July 10, 2009, 12:45 PM
Categories:: Citroen, France, Hybrid, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Plug-ins and Electric
Technorati Tags:: Hybrids

April 22, 2009

United Kingdom Creates $870 Million 'Cash For Clunkers' Program

Consider it an Earth Day celebration of sorts.

The United Kingdom today joined the growing number of countries that are offering cash or tax incentives to consumers who agree to scrap their old cars and trucks and buy new vehicles.

The "scrappage" plan announced Wednesday by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling follows the lead of such European countries as Germany, France and Italy, which earlier announced similar programs that are designed to rev up stalled automotive industry sales.

On this side of the pond, Congress is considering an Obama administration plan that's been dubbed "cash for clunkers."

Depending upon how such a program is structured, it could be effective when it comes to stimulating new vehicle sales and getting older, dirtier cars and trucks off of the road. But we maintain that participation should voluntary. The government shouldn't penalize car collectors, rebuilders, hobbyists and others who have solid reasons for owning old vehicles.

The U.S. proposal has won endorsements from the United Autoworkers and the country's Big Three automakers. Goldman Sachs estimates that cash-for-clunker proposals being considered by Congress could boost vehicle demand by 500,000 to 1.5 million during this year alone.

The U.K.'s auto industry certainly could use a push. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that 313,912 new cars were registered in March in the U.K., a 30.5% drop from last year and the 11th consecutive monthly drop.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Greg Johnson April 22, 2009, 11:24 AM
Categories:: Emissions, France, Fuel Economy, Legislation, Recycling
Technorati Tags:: Cash for Clunkers

March 18, 2009

Toyota Adding More Plug-In Priuses to French Road Trials

Toyota said today that it will add about 100 "next-generation" plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs) to road trials already underway in France. The expanded fleet is designed to test what Toyota described as an "innovative charging infrastructure."

As part of the program, Electricité de Strasbourg, a subsidiary of London-based energy giant EDF , will create "several hundred" charging points in public parking lots, along public roads and at the homes of motorists who drive the vehicles.

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Toyota is testing lithium-ion battery packs in fleets of plug-in Priuses but still isn't sure of the technology.
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Today's announcement builds upon an existing PHEV fleet that Toyota established in France in 2007. Toyota expanded the program to the United Kingdom in 2008 and plans to add plug-in fleet tests later this year in the U.S. and Asia.

The vehicles that will be leased to various companies in the Strasbourg region incorporate a Toyota hybrid technology that includes lithium-ion batteries that can be recharged using standard electrical plugs.

The cars can achieve substantial fuel savings over the conventional hybrid Prius and can run on electric power alone at higher speeds and for longer distances.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell March 18, 2009, 11:13 AM
Categories:: Batteries, Emissions, France, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
Technorati Tags:: French Plug In Hybrid Test

March 2, 2009

Mitsubishi Confirms EV-Sharing Deal; i-MiEV To Wear Peugeot Badge in Europe

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. today confirmed that it will provide electric car technology to French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen starting in late 2010 or early 2011. The two companies will produce a vehicle based upon Mitsubishi's iMiEV vehicle that will be marketed under the Peugeot brand .

Mitsubishi described its agreement with Peugeot as a memorandum of understanding that is "consistent with its worldwide electric vehicle strategy."

Mitsubishi's iMiEV technology currently is being tested in Japan -- where it is scheduled to debut this summer -- as well as in the U.S., Europe and New Zealand.

Today's announcement confirmed media reports about an electric car technology collaboration that surfaced last summer shortly after Mitsubishi became a minority partner in Peugeot's new $465 million plant in Russia.

Mitsubishi still plans to market its own line of electric vehicles in Europe. The Peugeot deal "would be mutually beneficial since the collaboration of MMC and PSA Peugeot Citroen will ease and accelerate the introduction of their electric vehicles in the European market," according to a statement on Mitsubishi's Web site.

Mitsubishi plans to introduce electric cars in Japan this summer. Closer to home, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric have been testing the zero-emissions four-passenger electric vehicle.

Greg Johnson, Contributor

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell March 2, 2009, 10:13 AM
Categories:: France, Japan, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Plug-ins and Electric
Technorati Tags:: Electric Vehicles

December 29, 2008

Challenge Bibendum Bows to Economic Crunch, Postponed 'til 2010

Sad news.

Michelin, citing the "depth of the current economic crisis," said today it is cancelling the planned 2009 Challenge Bibendum -- a premier global showcase and test bed for alternative fuels and power train technologies.

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The 2007 Challenge Bibendum was held in Shanghai.

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The biennial green car event, which was to have taken place in Rio de Janeiro in april, will be held over until 2010, the French tire giant said.

In a brief statement, the company said the decision "takes into account the increasing financial constraints of several of Challenge Bibendum's traditional partners. Many will be unable to participate, to the extent that they have done in the past, in an event which illustrates the existence of solutions to the challenges of tomorrow's road mobility."

Michelin said that for 2009 the Challenge Bibendum organizing team will "propose a series of different initiatives to our partners to stimulate ongoing debates on the future of road mobility."

We hate to see the event delayed, even for a year (and even though we weren't going to be able to travel to lovely Rio to witness it first hand), but trust Michelin and partners will do everything possible to stage a bigger and better Challenge in 2010.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell December 29, 2008, 4:19 PM
Categories:: Alternative Fuels, France, Green Vehicles
Technorati Tags:: 2009 Challenge Bibendum Postponed