Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

Today, Ecole Centrale Nantes and Renault launched the first Research Chair dedicated to the propulsion performance of electric vehicles.

 

“Renault has worked with electrification systems for several years. This Chair will be tasked with putting advanced propulsion system technologies in place in order to explore new avenues to optimise the performance, robustness, safety and costs of electric and hybrid engines,” explains Philippe Schulz, Director of Design for Electric and Hybrid Powertrains at Renault Groupe.

 

In the first half of 2016, 50,000 new electric cars were registered in Europe, an increase of 11% compared to 2015. France is the largest market, followed by Norway, where electric vehicles have a 13% share of the market. In this context of growth of electric vehicles, manufacturers are speeding up the development of their zero emissions vehicles. Pioneer of the 100% electric vehicle, Renault has already sold more than 100,000 units and is the European leader, with 27% of the market for electric cars and commercial vehicles.

 

“The decision to combine the resources of Renault and Centrale Nantes will prove decisive in the rise of electric vehicles in France. This new Chair will benefit from the excellence of Centrale Nantes, combined with the expertise of Renault,” adds Arnaud Poitou, Director of the Ecole Centrale Nantes.

 

 

New initial and continuing training programmes

 

Further to the research work, two new training programmes are available:

- Initial training courses for engineering students at Centrale Nantes or international Master’s students, dedicated to electrical energy and its generation, management and storage.

- Continuing training for employees of Renault Groupe specific to the control and observation of electric energy.

 

30 brains in start-up mode

 

The start-up will be located on the campus during the five years that the Chair will operate. About 30 international researchers, engineers, professors, PhD students, post-Doctoral and Master’s students associated with teams at Renault will work on three scientific areas:

1. Robust control of electric drive motors

2. Control and management of on-board charging systems

3. Optimising the potential energy of hybrid engine systems.

 

Centrale Nantes, with its laboratories, is the world leader in hybrid systems and synchronous and asynchronous machines without sensors, offering unique platforms for each area within an academic environment.

 

With a budget of 4.6 million euros over 5 years, this new Chair of electric propulsion performance is led by Malek Ghanes. University professor at Centrale Nantes, he received in 2015 the prize for applied research from the Federation of Electrical, Electronics and Communications Industries (FIECC) for his pioneering work on the development of robust and inexpensive automation.

 

Read the full press release here.