FT.com: French billionaire Vincent Bolloré and carmaker Renault are teaming up to make electric cars in a bet on a pick-up in demand for emission-free vehicles and the expansion of “green” urban car hire schemes.
Renault will in the second half of 2015 begin producing Bolloré’s Bluecar electric vehicle, which has since 2011 been used in Paris’s Autolib system, an electric car-sharing scheme also operating in Lyon and Bordeaux.
Bolloré and Renault also announced they will set up a joint venture for car-sharing services and will carry out a feasibility study for Renault to make a new three-seater electric vehicle using batteries made by Bolloré.
Consumers have been slower than hoped to adopt electric cars, long heralded as the future of the industry. This has been blow to major carmakers such as Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi that have invested heavily in the technology.
Carlos Ghosn, Renault-Nissan’s chief executive, admitted last year that sales in electric vehicles were at least four years behind targets, which he blamed on the slow rollout of support infrastructure.
Global sales of electric vehicles reached 200,000 last year, nearly double the number in 2012, but well below the run-rate needed to hit the International Energy Agency’s target of 20m on the world’s roads by 2020.
However, Bolloré group, the French conglomerate owned by the industrialist, has had some success with its Autolib car hire scheme, with international expansion planned in the coming years into Indianapolis.
Bolloré’s Blue Solutions, which sells batteries to other Bolloré-owned companies building cars, boats and products such as battery-powered homes, has seen shares rise 70 per cent since it floated on the stock market last year.
Bluecars, which can travel about 150 miles per charge, are currently built in Italy under a joint venture with its designer Pininfarina, but will move to Renault’s Dieppe factory in northwest France.
Renault will in the second half of 2015 begin producing Bolloré’s Bluecar electric vehicle, which has since 2011 been used in Paris’s Autolib system, an electric car-sharing scheme also operating in Lyon and Bordeaux.
Bolloré and Renault also announced they will set up a joint venture for car-sharing services and will carry out a feasibility study for Renault to make a new three-seater electric vehicle using batteries made by Bolloré.
Consumers have been slower than hoped to adopt electric cars, long heralded as the future of the industry. This has been blow to major carmakers such as Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi that have invested heavily in the technology.
Carlos Ghosn, Renault-Nissan’s chief executive, admitted last year that sales in electric vehicles were at least four years behind targets, which he blamed on the slow rollout of support infrastructure.
Global sales of electric vehicles reached 200,000 last year, nearly double the number in 2012, but well below the run-rate needed to hit the International Energy Agency’s target of 20m on the world’s roads by 2020.
However, Bolloré group, the French conglomerate owned by the industrialist, has had some success with its Autolib car hire scheme, with international expansion planned in the coming years into Indianapolis.
Bolloré’s Blue Solutions, which sells batteries to other Bolloré-owned companies building cars, boats and products such as battery-powered homes, has seen shares rise 70 per cent since it floated on the stock market last year.
Bluecars, which can travel about 150 miles per charge, are currently built in Italy under a joint venture with its designer Pininfarina, but will move to Renault’s Dieppe factory in northwest France.
