Valeo to Supply Parts for Renault's EVs

Part supplier Valeo was awarded by French manufacturer Renault the contract for the supply of engine cooling modules and condensers for Renault's future range of electric vehicles. Finding a supplier for these parts was necessary due to the differences between technical requirements for a regular vehicle and an electric one.

"After working with its suppliers on accelerated endurance tests, Valeo was able to propose a specific technical definition of the product. It will deliver the complete engine cooling module, including the ventilator system, radiator/condenser and the structural housing based on the one already supplied by Valeo for the current Megane," Valeo said in a release.

The first vehicle to benefit from Valeo's engineering will be the so called L38 VE project, presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show as the Fluence ZE. Later on, future electric vehicles, like an electric version of the Clio (W10VE), will also have parts supplied by Valeo.

The most recent EV, however, the Fluence ZE, will be launched at first in Israel and Denamqrk in 2011. As we announced earlier today, Renault and Better Place have signed an agreement to sell no less than 100,000 of these vehicles in the respective martkets from 2011 to 2016.

Valeo is also involved, together with Saint Gobain, Hutchinson and two laboratories: CETHIL-INSA, LINC and PSA Peugeot Citroen for the development of a mild hybrid which is intended, as are its siblings in other countries, to be both affordable and environmentally friendly.

In early 2009, Valeo also announced it has began work on the battery cooling management, climate control and energy management systems.