Renault plans community of EV charging stations alongside European motorways By Reuters

By Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) – Renault (EPA:) plans to construct a community of charging stations for electrical automobiles alongside motorways throughout Europe, the French carmaker’s e-mobility companies unit mentioned on Monday.

The primary charging station will open in a number of months in southern France, with 200 extra deliberate to comply with by mid-2024 in France, Belgium, Italy and Spain, Mobilize mentioned, including it was in superior talks with potential companions to finance the community.

Rolling out an ample charging infrastructure and providing motorists handy options when travelling is likely one of the essential challenges confronted by producers of electrical automobiles, as batteries typically provide much less driving radius than gas tanks and take for much longer to recharge.

Renault, whose share value worth has declined virtually 70% since early 2018, is way from being a frontrunner within the European electrical automobiles market.

However the firm is pushing forward with plans to separate its EV and combustion engine companies in a bid to compete with rivals resembling newcomer Tesla (NASDAQ:) and German large Volkswagen (ETR:) within the race to electrical driving.

The brand new charging stations might be put in at Renault dealerships situated near motorway exits, with devoted areas the place drivers can relaxation through the common half-hour charging interval.

They are going to be accessible across the clock and provide a lounge, taking part in corners for youngsters and refreshments.

To keep away from the necessity to set up new energy grid infrastructure, Mobilize mentioned it might use a stationary storage system the dimensions of a small container which is able to charging as much as six common automobiles of any make on the identical time.

“This may permit us to cost these containers very gently, with out disrupting the ability grid,” mentioned Nicolas Schottey, head of Mobilize Energy Options.

Tesla has been rolling out high-performance superchargers for years and has a world community of about 30,000 fast-chargers that it says may give a 200 km (125 mile) increase in quarter-hour.

Volkswagen expects its community of fast-chargers to almost quadruple to about 45,000 by 2025, with 18,000 EV pumps in Europe, 17,000 in China and 10,000 in North America.