Enel, Endesa and the Renault-Nissan Alliance subscribed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at developing electric mobility across several geographical areas.
The agreement was signed yesterday evening between Fulvio Conti, CEO and General Manager of Enel, Patrick Pélata, COO of Renault Group, and Hideaki Watanabe, Alliance Managing Director of Zero Emission Business Unit, within the framework of the Fifth France-Italy governments summit led by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The agreement calls for:
a) analysis of the technical integration (power interface, safety, and communications protocol) between Renault and Nissan’s electric vehicles and Enel’s recharging infrastructure;
b) examination of the development of integrated product and service offerings for the customers of electric vehicles;
c) analysis of various recharging technologies and the services associated to the charging infrastructure;
d) 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;
e) joint evaluation for development of pilot projects in areas to be identified in Italy, Spain and Latin America.
Electric mobility has enormous potential for environmental improvement in urban transport. Replacing a conventional vehicle with an electric one not only reduces drastically noise and air pollution locally, but also cuts down CO2 emissions by up to 45% through the current average efficiency of the Italian generation fleet. If power produced from renewable and nuclear energy sources only was to be used, emissions would be practically zeroed.
Renault and Nissan are strongly engaged in the development of electric vehicles and oriented towards mass commercialization of zero-emission mobility, as a sustainable mobility solution for the near future. Between 2011 and 2012, Renault will launch a complete range of 4 electric cars: the urban electric car TWIZY Z.E., the compact hatchback ZOE Z.E., the family hatchback FLUENCE Z.E. and the light commercial vehicle KANGOO Z.E. In late 2010, Nissan will launch LEAF, the world’s first affordable all-electric vehicle for the global mass market. Sales will begin in the US, Japan and select markets in Europe before global mass marketing in 2012.
Enel actively plays a leading role domestically and is involved in the major European boards and projects for standardization and technological development. The company is also developing its own smart recharging infrastructure system based on digital metering technology, of which it is a global leader thanks to the installation of more than 32 million smart meters in Italy. Enel is also developing additional offers and services making electric mobility increasingly practical, accessible and convenient.
Endesa is firmly committed to the development of sustainable transport model based on the electric vehicle as one of the main routes of Endesa in its combat against climate change as reflected in its Strategic Plan for Sustainability 2008-2012.
Renault.
The Renault group, present in 118 countries, designs, develops, produces and sells passenger cars and light commercial vehicles under three brands, Renault, Dacia and Renault Samsung Motors. To succeed in the new ecological and economic challenges facing the automotive industry, Renault is working on two fronts: the improvement of existing technology with new generations of carbon-efficient engines and the “zero-emission” program. Renault will launch a “zero-emission” range of three vehicles in 2011, followed by a fourth in 2012. This line-up will make innovation accessible to all. With its partner Nissan, Renault aims to become the world leader in the mass marketing of zero-emission vehicles.
Nissan.
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., founded in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture in 1933, has 31 vehicle manufacturing plants worldwide and offers products and services in more than 190 countries, selling a comprehensive range of cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and light commercial vehicles under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. Nissan employs 151,430 people worldwide.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance, formed in 1999, sold 6,085,058 vehicles in 2009. It is pursuing its objective to rank in the world’s top three carmakers in terms of quality, technology and reliability. As part of its zero-emission strategy, it works with governments, municipal authorities, energy specialists and other partners. Thus far the Alliance has signed more than 50 agreements worldwide aimed at preparing markets and infrastructures for the mass launch of electric vehicles starting in 2011.
Enel.
Enel is Italy’s largest power company, and Europe’s second listed utility by installed capacity. It is an integrated player which produces, distributes and sells electricity and gas. After the acquisition of the Spanish utility Endesa, Enel is now present in 23 countries with over 96,000 MW and serves 60.8 million power and gas customers. Listed on the Milan stock exchange since 1999, Enel is the Italian company with the highest number of shareholders, some 1.2 million retail and institutional investors, in 2008. Enel is also the second-largest Italian operator in the natural gas market, with approximately 2.7 million customers and a 10% market share in terms of volumes.
Endesa.
Endesa is the leading electricity company in Spain, the first private electricity company in Latin America and has a strong position in the Mediterranean basin, with a growing presence in various segments of the natural gas market in Spain and Portugal. It reaches an installed capacity of 36,640 MW, with 25 million customers and 26,300 employees. Seventh utility in the world by enterprise value, Endesa has assets valued at 60 billion euros. Endesa has opted for a model of sustainable enterprise. In Spain the company is already working in the electrical mobility deployments (Plan MOVELE) in Madrid and Barcelona, in major technology initiatives (Cenit VERDE, G4V and ELVIRE consortium, and REVE (Regulación Eólica con Vehículos Eléctricos) @ DER22 projects) ENDESA is also already working on projects for energy storage in batteries, through the STORE consortium.
