Following the letter of intent signed in September 2013, French groups Renault and Bolloré are making plans to collaborate as part of a joint strategy to promote electric vehicles.

Renault will take over assembly of the Bluecar, formerly built solely in Italy. The vehicles will be assembled at the Renault plant in Dieppe (Normandy, France) from the second-half of 2015. 

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The two companies say they are to promote electric vehicles as part of three agreements relating to:

  • industrial cooperation: the Renault plant in Dieppe (Normandy, France) will assemble Bluecar electric vehicles for the Bolloré Group from second-half 2015,
  • the founding of a joint-venture to sell complete electric car-sharing solutions in France and Europe,
  • a feasibility survey, commissioned by the Bolloré group to the Renault Group, on design, development and production by Renault of a new urban electric vehicle with a 20kwh lithium metal polymer (LMP) battery.
  • The development of electric vehicles is key to address environmental issues, particularly air quality and mobility in towns and cities.

Renault and Bolloré claim they have decided to build on their complementarity. The Renault group has expertise in the design, development and production of electric vehicles (ZOE, Kangoo, Twizy). The Bolloré group is a key player in electricity storage solutions, a field whose applications include car-sharing programmes based on all-electric vehicles. This application is recognised with the success of Autolib in Paris.

1- industrial cooperation agreement

The Bolloré Group has commissioned Renault, European leader in electric vehicles, to gradually take over assembly of the Bluecar, formerly built solely in Italy. The vehicles will be assembled at the Renault plant in Dieppe (Normandy, France) from the second-half of 2015. For the Dieppe plant, this decision is an acknowledgement of its expertise and a promise for its future activity.

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The Dieppe plant specialises in building vehicles in small series. It currently builds Clio IV R.S. and is set to build the future Alpine, scheduled for launch in 2016. The Dieppe plant will be able to rely on the expertise of the Renault group in electric vehicles to acquire the skills necessary to assemble this type of vehicle. A new final assembly workshop will be set up specially within the plant to build these vehicles. The Bolloré group will thus have access to a modern production tool tailored to its requirements and delivering a significant reduction in costs.

2- founding of a joint-venture in car-sharing

With a number of cities now taking coercive measures to address air quality and congestion by limiting traffic, the Renault and Bolloré groups have decided to set up a joint-venture, whose aim will be to win and install complete electric car-sharing solutions in France and Europe. The Renault group will hold a 30% interest in the joint-venture, while the Bolloré group will own 70%.

As part of this agreement, from the second-half of 2014, customers using car-sharing networks in Lyon (Bluely) and Bordeaux (Bluecub) will be able to choose a Twizy, a vehicle that is different but complementary with the Bluecar, already available on a car-sharing basis in both Lyon and Bordeaux.

Renault vehicles will be gradually integrated with the car-sharing fleet to reach a proportion of 30% as quickly as possible.

3- feasibility study for a 3-seater bluecar

The Bolloré group has asked Renault to conduct a feasibility survey on the design, development and production in a Renault group plant in France of a smaller car than the existing Bluecar (three seats instead of four), able to support the expansion of car-sharing initiatives. This vehicle could also be sold to consumers, companies and municipalities.

This electric vehicle will ship with a Blue Solutions lithium-metal-polymer (LMP) battery with a capacity of 20kwh.