A letter of intent has been signed in Flins between the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the French Atomic
Energy Commission (CEA) and the French Strategic Investment Fund (FSI) to set-up a joint venture
company that would develop and manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, under the patronage of
Christian Estrosi, the French Minister for Industry.
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The automakers and the CEA would bring technical expertise and infrastructure support in addition to
an equity investment. Consistent with the continuous support and proactive policies of the French
government towards zero emission mobility, FSI will join the project and contribute EUR125m.
In order to complete the financing of the project, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering a
loan of up to 50% of the EUR280m debt financing
The joint venture would focus on advanced research, manufacturing and the recycling of electric vehicle batteries.
It plans to produce batteries from mid 2012 at the Renault Flins plant, located 30km (20 miles) from Paris. Production capacity is targeted at 100,000 batteries a year. The investment value of the first phase of the project is estimated at EUR600m.
Batteries produced by the joint venture would be available for sale to any manufacturer. The alliance will use its European battery plants in France, the UK and Portugal to supply electric vehicles built around Europe and Turkey. Renault intends to use the batteries produced at Flins primarily for the all-new electric car that will derive from the Zoe Ze Concept, also to be built at the Flins plant.
The joint venture will have a sustainable approach to its entire operations, including developing technologies to recycle batteries on site.
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By GlobalDataTo date, the French government has created several initiatives towards zero emission mobility including
public and private sector company bids on joint purchases of a 100,000 electric vehicles fleet by 2015,
consumer incentives of up to EUR5,000 for the purchase of an electric vehicle (through 2012) and the
development of infrastructure through a planned investment of EUR900m financed by the French government.
“Realizing the potential of zero-emission mobility on a mass scale requires unique collaboration between
public and private sectors”, said Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Renault and Nissan. “We welcome
the vision and commitment made today by the French government, the CEA and the FSI to invest with the
Renault Nissan Alliance in the future of clean transportation.”
