The Renault-Nissan alliance and EDF have announced the launch of a large-scale electric vehicle test in the Paris region.
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Under an agreement signed last October by EDF CEO Pierre Gadonneix and Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, the two partners plan to test the development of electric mobility for the first time in France during ‘real-life’ trials in the Paris region.
For a year from September 2010, consumers, professionals and local government employees will try out 100 electric passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, using a charging infrastructure at home, work, in car parks and on the public highway.
The experiment has been made possible by a technical and financial partnership between all the public and private parties involved, Renault said.
The alliance and utility plan to use the full-scale trial to test the usage and performance of future electric vehicles. The vehicles will be identical to series-produced models scheduled for launch at the start of 2011.
The joint initiative is also supported by the Paris region and Yvelines local authorities.
It was devised in close cooperation with the Etablissement Public d’Aménagement du Mantois Seine-Aval (EPAMSA) local planning body.
The project, called SAVE (Seine Aval Véhicules Electriques), will involve a number of private partners.
A file has been submitted to the French Energy Management Agency (ADEME) as part of the invitation for expressions of interest announced on 26 June, 2009. The project will be launched only after the financing necessary for its implementation has been approved, the parties said.
