Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

More charging points are needed now!

We are demanding greater investment in electric vehicle infrastructure before personal mobility is lost forever.

At a special meeting during the Paris Motor Show, Hideaki Watanabe, Managing Director of Zero Emission Vehicles, Renault-Nissan BV, told delegates representing local authorities, fleet operators and other interested parties: “The time to invest in EV infrastructure is now.”

He said: “We have to reduce CO2 emissions. If we don’t then we will lose our personal mobility, our freedom.”

Watanabe cited four reasons why we are calling for action now. He said: “The cars are ready; the charging solutions are ready; customers are ready; and governments are supportive.”

With five EVs now on the market – and three more, including an Infiniti, the e-NV200 light commercial and a city car in the pipeline –  we remain the global leader in zero emission mobility. To date, the Alliance has sold more than 53,000 electric vehicles around the world, accounting for 70 per cent of global EV sales.

As well as developing the cars, we are providing a number of charging solutions including accelerated chargers and quick chargers, which dramatically reduce the time needed to recharge an EV battery. Accelerated charging allows you to charge you battery in an hour while quick charging allows you to charge it from zero to 80% in about 30 minutes.

“Owners of electric vehicles are very positive about the cars, saying the cars are changing their mobility habits. But they are expecting a greatly expanded infrastructure. Put simply, the more quick chargers you have, the more EV users there will be… and the lower the levels of CO2 there will be in the atmosphere.”

Béatrice Foucher speaking at the special meeting.

Béatrice Foucher, Vice President of Renault’s electric vehicle programme, told the meeting: “There are currently 20,000 charging points across Europe… but this is insufficient. At this stage of EV development there needs to be at least 50,000 points in place.

“Increasing this number is a collaborative project. Everyone – car makers, local authorities, utility companies – must work together if Europe is to be truly EV ready,” she said.