The packaging of bulky EV batteries remains a significant technical challenge, one reason why both Renault and Nissan concepts use boxy bodies.
Renault and EDF, the French electric utility, today announced the strengthening of their collaboration on “zero-emission” electric vehicles that dates back to the Paris Auto Show in 2008. The two partners are moving on to a later phase in the development of an electric vehicle, which is due by 2011, including the debut of some in the United States.
The Renault Nissan Alliance missed the move to hybrids when Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of both Renault and Nissan, decided that they were too expensive — leaving Toyota thus far with unchallenged “green car credentials.” Nissan is now placing a large bet on EVs and developing lithium ion batteries through a joint-venture with NEC in Japan. It is also pursuing government subsidies with all possible political pressure to make the program profitable.
The latest development effort is around a recharging system that allows communication between electrical terminals and vehicles, called “power line communication” (PLC). Recharging, along with its cost, is one of the many challenges electric vehicles face in garnering widespread approval, something Renault and Nissan together are betting significant resources on at a time when both companies are losing large amounts of money.
EDF claims that its PLC technology ensures the secure exchange of data between the recharge terminal and vehicle, including vehicle identification and billing details. Renault will carry out integration tests of this system with its future vehicles. This, Renault says, is a concrete step forward that will contribute to the development of the electric vehicle market in France. France will be one of the first global markets to receive these all-electric models, along with Israel, Denmark, Portugal, the state of Tennessee (USA), and Kanagawa Prefecture (Japan), all of which have announced similar partnerships with the Renault Nissan Alliance.
Since Renault has no presence in the U.S., an electric vehicle here will come from Nissan. As TDB has reported, the Alliance now has several zero-emission partnerships in the U.S., including Tucson and Phoenix Arizona; Sonoma County, California; the State of Oregon; the State of Tennessee and San Diego Gas & Electric Company. It is looking for more.
- The partnership announcement at the Paris Motor Show between Renault and EDF with Carlos Ghosn, president and ceo of Renault and Nissan, and Pierre Gadonneix, chairman and ceo of EDF.
Critics of electric vehicles say it is misleading call them “zero emission vehicles,” since it does not take into account how the electricity needed to charge them is generated.
Most of the electric power in the U.S. is made by burning CO2 producing fuels, predominately coal, which is extremely dirty; oil, somewhat less dirty; and natural gas, the best of the three but still CO2 producing.
Some suggest that EVs should be dubbed “elsewhere emission vehicles,” since the greenhouse gases are moved from a tailpipe to utility smokestacks, a fact that shouldn’t be lost on legislators and policy makers who are not in the pockets of special interests.
This mostly fair criticism doesn’t apply to the EDF, since the French power company relies on nuclear energy to generate most of its power, but of course nuclear power presents a whole another list of serious issues, including cost, safety and security.
A lot of this attempted commercialization of electric vehicles comes from European regulation governing carbon dioxide, which is forcing all makers to downsize cars, and produce electric cars to get “Super Credits” to allow them to continue to produce vehicles that resemble the ones we know today. More than a dozen hybrid and full electric vehicle models are slated for release by 2010. This includes new vehicles from Ford, Daimler, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Opel and Renault.
The U.S. is currently working on its own set of CO2 emissions rules.
EU and CO2
The European Union is moving ahead – over automakers’ protests – with new CO2 standards for passenger cars that dictate a reduction in average CO2 emissions from new cars to 120 g/km. Fewer than 9% of the cars sold in the EU in 2006 met this level of emissions. The costs of moving towards CO2 of 120 g/km by 2012 through vehicle technology are estimated at about €3,600 ($5,108) on an average per car. (The EU does not recognize light trucks as we do in the U.S., just cars and commercial vehicles. And naturally there are complicated credits and no surprise exemptions or special treatment for cars bought by the wealthy.)
While there is an implementation phase-in for the new EU regulation, it appears on the surface extremely ambitious – 65% of new cars will comply with requirements in 2012; 75% in 2013; 80% in 2014 and 100% in 2015. Since CO2 emissions are directly proportional to the amount of any carbon-based fuel that is burned, CO2 standards can be looked at as fuel economy requirements. But here it is difficult to make clear comparisons since Europe calculates fuel economy on liters of fuel consumed per 100 kilometers driven, different units and the opposite of our misleading miles per gallon method.
The success or failure of the growing electric vehicle movement will ultimately come down to the successful development of inexpensive, advanced batteries with enough range to make the cars useful to a larger number of commuters than previously. Although battery breakthroughs have been promised for decades now, and subject to millions of dollars of government research money, they have not kept pace with advances in fuel economy or the convenience of conventional vehicles for most car buyers, thereby relegating EVs to expensive curiosities thus far.