ROMA – A shower of new electric models, partnerships with the main players in the sector, a compact electric ecosystem in the north of France, and a megafactory for electric motors in Normandy: these are just some of the pillars of Renault’s strategy for reducing the costs of electric vehicles. By 2030, the French group plans to produce up to one million electric vehicles under the Alliance, launch ten new electric cars, from competitively priced urban cars to top-of-the-range sports models, managing to halve the current high costs of the main components. In short, it will be an impressive acceleration that will involve the entire production chain with particular attention to the complete life cycle of the car: from the exit from the assembly line, to energy storage solutions with the reuse of car batteries at the end. life, up to the recycling of the precious elements that compose them. In the field of batteries, one of the most expensive elements of an electric vehicle, Renault thanks to partnerships with St Micro-electronics, Whylot, Lg Chem, Envision Aesc and Verkor, plans to reduce battery pack costs by 60% to below $ 100 / kWh in 2025 and below $ 80 thereafter / kWh in 2030, paving the way for solid-state battery technology.
As for the electric motor, the Group (the first manufacturer to fully develop an electric unit in house) will progressively integrate new technological improvements starting from 2024 on its wound rotor synchronous propulsion system and will be the first manufacturer to produce a flux electric motor. axial on a large scale starting from 2025. For the optimization of all powertrains, the company has entered into various strategic agreements such as, for example, with the French start-up Whylot and is working on the creation of a more compact “all-in -one ”which includes electric motor, gearbox and power electronics in a single unit with a reduction of 45% of the overall volume. The improvements will also affect the Cmf-Ev platforms, dedicated to the C and D segments, and Cmf-Bev for the B segment which, according to the company, will be able to reduce the cost by 33% compared to the current generation of the Zoe city car.
Precisely in this sense, Philippe Brunet, director of the Motorization and Electrical Vehicle Engineering Alliance, specified that “the correct price for a segment B electric vehicle would be the same price as a segment B thermal vehicle. This therefore net of the incentives we know be different from one country to another “, while as regards the coveted” overtaking “of electricity sales over traditional ones,” it will depend on politics – added Brunet – perhaps we will get there around 2035, shortly before or shortly after “. The focus of the electrification strategy of the lozenge brand will be “Renault ElectriCity”, a hyper-technological structure located in northern France that brings together the three plants of Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz, connected to the various satellites of the partnerships and suppliers, which aims to the production of electric vehicles “made in France”. The first fruits of the Group’s new strategy will materialize in the Mégane E-Tech Electric, the iconic electric R5, the battery-powered reinterpretation of the timeless “4ever”, and in the sports cars of the Alpine brand. (mr)
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