Enel, Endesa and the Renault-Nissan Alliance signed 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, while at the fifth France-Italy governments summit led by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
According to the agreement, Enel in Italy and Endesa in Spain and Latin America will work jointly with the Renault-Nissan Alliance on projects for the development of zero emission mobility.
The agreement calls for:
· analysis of the technical integration (power interface, safety, and communications protocol) between Renault and Nissan’s electric cars and Enel’s recharging infrastructure;
· examination of the development of integrated product and service offerings for the customers of electric cars;
· analysis of various recharging technologies and the services associated to the charging infrastructure;
· 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;
· joint evaluation for development of pilot projects in areas to be identified in Italy, Spain and Latin America.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance is strongly engaged in the development of electric cars 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 vehicle TWIZY Z.E., the compact hatchback ZOE Z.E., the family sedan FLUENCE Z.E. and the light commercial vehicle KANGOO Z.E. In late 2010, Nissan will launch LEAF, the world’s first affordable electric car for the global mass market. Sales will begin in the US, Japan and select markets in Europe before global mass marketing in 2012.
Enel, which is Italy’s largest power company, and Europe’s second listed utility by installed capacity, is developing its own smart recharging infrastructure system based on digital metering technology, of which it claims to be a global leader thanks to the installation of more than 32 million smart meters in Italy. Endesa, which is owned by Enel, is the leading electricity company in Spain, the first private electricity company in Latin America and has a strong position in the Mediterranean basin.
Separately, the Renault-Nissan Alliance today signed EV pact with the government of the Australian Capital Territory.
The two organizations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which a working team of representatives from the ACT Government and Nissan will identify potential areas of co-operation in promoting the use of electric cars in the Territory.
