Renault has won the first bids for electric vehicles initiated by French public authorities and organized by the public procurement organization UGAP.
A total 15,637 Kangoo Van Z.E. are to be ordered by the 19 companies taking part in the call for bids, including 10,000 for La Poste, 1,500 for ERDF, 1,200 for UGAP, 510 for Veolia Environnement, 450 for GDF-Suez and 330 for Spie.
Renault has won the first lot in a call for bids initiated 18 months ago by the public authorities, which called on La Poste chairman Jean-Paul Bailly to form a group of orders from large companies interested in acquiring electric vehicles. The invitation to tender was entrusted to the public procurement organization UGAP.
The first phase of the selection process was referred to as “competitive dialog”. Every month, the manufacturers taking part in the call for bids met with purchasing representatives from the order group to answer their questions, present their range and feedback their needs. This phase was used to build a panorama of the offering and draw up the technical specifications meeting the needs of the members of the order group.
Renault Kangoo Z.E., the first range of full-electric vans, priced from €15,000 (in France, ex VAT, €5,000 environmental bonus deducted), has been available to order in France across the entire Renault network since September 30. It will be making its first physical appearance at more than 370 dealership in France today, followed by gradual launch in all European countries.
Kangoo Van Z.E. is produced at the Maubeuge plant in France along with its internal-combustion sister. The plant has been specialised in the production of light commercial vehicles for 20 years and is able to continuously adapt to the diversity inherent to this type of vehicle (short and long versions, panel version, etc.) and to sales demand. The choice of Maubeuge enables rapid industrialisation whilst ensuring extremely high quality.