Renault upsizes its EV strategy

Like the idea of what Renault and Nissan have done with their electric cars but found them just a bit too small? That’s about to change.

The long-time leader in zero-emission car sales plans to scale up the size of its electric cars to thwart Volkswagen’s coming ID range.

Spooked by the threat of the five-model electric-car range coming from arch rival Volkswagen, Renault has rushed forward a program to jump up a full size from the current Zoe.

The new model will be Renault’s answer to the ID.3 hatchback from Volkswagen and could even reach up to become a Tesla Model 3 rival, from a company with a long history and consistent credibility in the EV space.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is deep into its second generations with the Zoe and the Leaf EVs, plus it has the quirky Twizy town car and a range of commercial EVs, too.

Nissan is responsible for the lion’s share of the new car’s chassis development, with its US operations giving it far more recent experience with successful large cars than Renault has.

That indicates a joint platform will be developed that will also sit beneath a Nissan EV and a probable Mitsubishi EV, Renault’s EV commercial director, Emmanuel Bouvier, said.

"We are working on developing the range of our lineup so as to cover all segments with electric cars," Bouvier said.

"It's too early to say that we will be in competition with Tesla head on, but we are obviously planning to cover a larger share of the market," he said.

While Renault and Nissan were early adopters of EV technology, its Zoe and Leaf models shared very few components, much less their battery technology.

That’s expected to change as Bouvier’s ideas for the model ranges coalesce as they adopt a modular, economies-of-scale business model to counter Volkswagen.