Renault, Nissan Sign Agreement with Enel and Endesa

Renault and Nissan have signed an agreement to develop electric vehicle mobility with energy giants Enel and Endesa. The deal has been put in place yesterday in Paris in the presence of Fulvio Conti, CEO Enel, Patrick Pelata, Chief Operating Officer Groupe Renault and Hideaki Watanabe, General Manager of Renault-Nissan's Zero Emission Business.

The signing was supervised by Italian and French presidents, Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy. The agreement has five points and in the first phase the parties involved will focus on a study of compatibility between the charging infrastructure of Enel and the electric vehicles produced by Renault and Nissan. There will be a special focus on power interface, safety and communication protocol.

The second point refers to the examination of the development of integrated product and service offerings for the customers of electric vehicles, while the third regards the analysis of various recharging technologies and the services associated to the charging infrastructure. The last two points concern the study of the entire battery life cycle, including the possible use of the battery as an energy storage system of energy produced from renewable sources in the second part of its life cycle, and joint evaluation for development of pilot projects in areas to be identified in Italy, Spain and Latin America.

Between 2011 and 2012, Renault will launch a range of four electric vehicles: the urban vehicle Twizy Z.E., the compact hatchback Zoe Z.E., the family saloon/sedan Fluence Z.E., and the light commercial vehicle Kangoo Z.E. In late 2010, Nissan will launch its Leaf model for the global mass market.