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Renault-Nissan Partner Microsoft Essentially to Become like Tesla

It was 2010 when Nissan introduced the first electric vehicle worth considering. Since then, the two brands have sold over 350,000 EVs between them, with the Nissan LEAF still holding the record of best-sold electric car.
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Photo: Renault-Nissan
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When you start to take everything it - the fact there are two brands involved, that we're talking about two established manufacturers with huge production capabilities or that their products were mostly affordable cars - the number doesn't seem that great. In fact, it's downright puny compared to Tesla's Model 3 registrations that, depending on how quickly the Californian brand can build the cars, would single-handedly surpass that number.

Nevertheless, Renault-Nissan isn't giving up without a fight. The French-Japanese alliance is working on a new generation of EVs but, more importantly, it is also making strides in the autonomous driving field. Well, the Japanese side more so than its European partner. That means future Nissan and Renault cars would have to possess various connectivity possibilities so they can talk to HQ, but also among themselves.

To make this leap easier, Renault-Nissan has announced a partnership with Microsoft, the software giant that provides the operating system for the overwhelming majority of the world's personal computers. Unfortunately for the two manufacturers, they are once again found in the situation where they have to follow instead of lead. After Tesla showed everybody that one single company can build long-range EVs as well as its own infrastructure, it has also paved the way for wireless updates and constant communication with the vehicle.

The partnership aims to "improve customer experience via advanced navigation, predictive maintenance and vehicle-centric services, remote monitoring of car features, external mobile experiences and over-the-air updates." This will be achieved with the help of the Microsoft Azure cloud service, a "secure, global platform with unlimited scale that allows Renault-Nissan to deliver services worldwide to its broad customer base."

While nobody can argue the weight of the Microsoft name, some might question the reliability of its products, especially of the software variety. Does this mean that future Nissans and Renaults will come with three new buttons labeled CTRL, ALT, and DEL? You saw this joke coming from a mile away, didn't you?
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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