Renault May Be Planning An Electric Car For The Persian Gulf

Renault chairman Carlos Ghosn said that the company is in talks with a Gulf country to bring its electric vehicle to market. According to Ghosn, the Renault-Nissan joint venture plans to deliver an electric car to consumers by 2010.

One of the selling points of EV's, according to Ghosn, is the styling and the fact that EV's are zero-emission vehicles. To sell the car, Ghosn says that it cannot cost more than a conventional vehicle and that electricity has to be cheap. The company believes that with the price of oil hovering at $120 per barrel, an electric vehicle will be attractive to consumers.

Renault is already doing EV development in Israel and says that it can produce an EV that delivers performance comparable to conventional gas-powered 1.6L vehicles with a range of about 125 miles. According to the company, the EV would have a lithium-ion battery pack and would be supported in Israel by a plan to build a network of 500,000 charging stations around the country to promote EV use.

The company also recently announced that it will produce an all-electric vehicle for the Danish market by 2011 that offers performance similar to that of gasoline-powered vehicles. A grid similar to the one proposed in Israel will be constructed in Denmark to support the adoption of EVs there.

Source: Renault
Photo courtesy of Renault