Renault has announced its intention to transform three of its factories in northern France into the largest electric vehicle production center in Europe, producing up to 400,000 vehicles per year.
The French company will create a new legal entity, called Renault ElectriCity, which will include its factories in Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz. The three sites will produce Renault’s future electric passenger cars, including Mégane E-Vision and 5 EV, as well as electric utility vehicles and EV components.
Renault has previously confirmed that it plans to revive the 5 EV and the Mégane E-Vision at its long-standing Douai factory, which opened in 1970 and was the production site for the original 5. based on the CMF-EV platform used for the Mégane E-Vision will also be produced at the site and he hinted at other vehicles based on the city car EV platform that will underpin the 5 EV.
The Maubeuge plant has been used to produce Renault commercial vehicles since 1980 and currently houses the Kangoo van and the Mercedes-Benz Citan with badges. The next-generation electric Kangoo E-Tech Electric, the next-generation Citan and the associated Nissan NV200 will all be built in the factory. Renault said “other variants” of the next-generation Kangoo will be built at the plant alongside electric vehicles.
The Renault plant in Ruitz, which currently manufactures gearboxes, will in future be used to produce electrical components.
Renault says the ElectriCity program will create 700 new jobs by 2024 – 350 in Maubeuge, the rest being divided between Douai and Ruitz – and that the company will create a university and a training center to teach the new skills required for production of electric vehicles.
The production plans do not include the manufacture of batteries. Renault bosses have previously called on the French government to support a giant battery factory, which they hinted was key to spurring the production of electric vehicles in the country.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-09 11:59:51
