Schindler and Renault to promote electric vehicles

The two companies have been partners since 2002, when Schindler selected Renault to supply its vehicle fleet of some 16,000 vehicles. The fleet is used primarily by Schindler technicians, who maintain the company’s global portfolio of elevators and escalators.

With the memorandum of understanding, signed by Jürgen Tinggren, President of Schindler’s Elevator and Escalator Division, and Patrick Pélata, Chief Operating Officer, Renault S.A.S., Schindler is signaling its interest in buying or leasing electric vehicles from Renault’s future range.

"Schindler is continually working to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of its products and services" said Jürgen Tinggren. "With our large vehicle fleet we see plenty of potential for further improvement in terms of cutting emissions and we are looking forward to working with Renault on this important initiative".

Speaking to the press, Patrick Pélata said, “We are pleased to welcome Schindler as a partner in our electric car program. Their collaboration is proof that sustainable mobility interests companies well beyond the automobile industry."

The partnership will go beyond the sole manufacturer-customer relationship. Schindler will be part of a pilot group that will test the first Renault zero-emission vehicles by the end of this year. The test will enable Renault to better understand the upcoming customer utilization of electric cars fleets and to fine-tune its offering for fleet business.

The Renault group, present in 118 countries, designs, develops, manufactures and sells passenger cars and light commercial vehicles under the Renault, Dacia and Renault Samsung Motors brands. To meet the new challenges facing the automotive industry, both environmental and economic, Renault is improving existing technologies with new generations of carbon-efficient engines and by implementing the breakthrough “Zero Emission” program.

Renault will launch a zero-emission range with three electric vehicles in 2011 and a fourth in 2012. This offering will make innovation accessible to the greatest number. With its partner Nissan, Renault is targeting world leadership in the mass marketing of zero-emission vehicles.

Carlos Ghosn predicts that the car industry will be scrambling to build capacity to meet demand for both electric cars and the lithium ion batteries that power them in less than two years. The Renault and Nissan chief executive said that the two companies stood to profit because they would be “the only one on the market” with an electric car by 2011.

Renault and Nissan are between them installing enough capacity to build about 150,000 electric cars in Japan, 200,000 in Europe, and more than 200,000 in the US.

The Schindler Group is a leading global mobility provider, present in more than 140 countries. The company designs, manufactures, installs, services and modernizes elevator and escalator systems for almost every building type. Schindler supports sustainable urban development with safe, reliable and ecologically sound mobility solutions.

Schindler is committed to reducing continuously the environmental impact of its products and processes. A major focus is improving energy consumption since two-thirds of the total environmental impact of an elevator is accounted for by the electricity consumed during its useful life.

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