Renault is on the road to proving that its electric car plans are not just good intentions, with reports that it intends to produce 200,000 electric cars a year from 2015. We’re hoping that the infrastructure we need to support the electric vehicles of the future will be in place, and companies like Renault won’t be held hostage on electric plans due to lack of recharging networks.

The largest part of the 200,000 electric cars will be made up of the Renault Zoe. It will be launched in 2012 on the basis of the next Clio platform and should be produced in 150,000 units from 2015. The reports come from French daily La Tribune, quoting internal sources at Renault who have also left us with a “no comment” on the production percentage of electric vehicles.

According to the reports, come 2015, Renault electric car production will be more than 5% of its total production figures. Other companies should be sticking to about the five percent figure, meaning Renault could be set to make its mark on the electric car market in Europe in the very near future.

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The Fiat 2010 New Year commercial is less about wishing you a Happy New Year and more about showing you the hopes for the Fiat-Chrysler deal for 2010. With a few historic images, very Italian in nature, we’re taken to the Fiat 500 cruising some world famous American sites. It’s a strange video for the local Italian audience, as if they needed convincing about the Fiat-Chrysler deal.

Another European manufacturer focussed on something more ecological for the New Year, with Renault producing a New Year video about its electric cars. With highly recognisable footage from recreation to environmental disasters, the Renault commercial closes with a brief look at the Renault Zoe: one of the family of Renault electrics made up of the Twizy, Fluence and Z.E. See the video after the jump.

Continue reading: Fiat and Renault: New Year commercials on Chrysler deal and electric cars

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The European car market is changing, with Eastern Europe enjoying larger shares of production and manufacturing. The hugely successful Fiat 500, for example, is made in Poland, and Renault is now continuing this trend of moving manufacturing elsewhere with the announcement that the electric prototype Renault Fluence, first on show at the 2009 IAA Frankfurt motor show, will be produced in the Bursa factory in Turkey.

This announcement completes the various facilities destined to produce Renault’s electric cars, with the the Zoé and Kangoo Express Z.E. being made in France, the Twizy in Spain and the Fluence in Turkey. Production will commence in the first six months of 2011.

For Renault this is merely a natural step to take, as the Fluence will be assembled at the same facilities as the fuel version, meaning a quick start to the project and easy transition to the electric assembly function. However, Renault makes the point that this is also a cost measure, ensuring that the electric Fluence makes it to market with a competitive price tag.

Renault Fluence Z.E.

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The Renault electric concept vehicles presented at Frankfurt were Twizy, Zoe, Fluence and the Z.E previously seen at Paris. The company has ambitious plans for its range of electric vehicles, stating that they will be widespread in the future. If things go according to plan, the Z.E cars, currently in concept form, will be available on the market in 2011, in a comprehensive range of European zero emissions vehicles.

The problem with most car companies committing to electric vehicles is, as always, the lack of infrastructure and articulated plans by government and industry to make infrastructure available. And so, Renault will be building its electric vehicles with a standard recharge time of between four and eight hours. The Z.E cars will all be equipped with external recharge points, and will even be fitted with a ‘Quickdrop’ system meaning the entire battery package can be substituted in three minutes.

The claims of “widespread” dominance of the market probably won’t happen with the Renault Twizy, the most original of the four prototypes. We find it hard to see how this car, based on motorcycle concepts (and, lets face it, motorcycle comfort, too). Despite this, it has a 2012 debut planned, with its 15kW motor. We think it may not see the light, but the market, and the car itself, may change in that time.

Continue reading: Renault electric concepts from Frankfurt

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