- On September 30 2013, 372 dealerships in the French Renault’s distribution network will start offering users of electric vehicles a free 1-hour charge per day, thanks to its fast-charge terminals located on the dealerships’ outdoor parking lots. The 22 kW charging terminals can charge batteries to 80% of their capacity in 1 hour.
- The 875 fast-charge stations located in parking lots of 372 Renault dealerships offer EV users an alternative solution to using private stations at home or at work and are helping to develop the public charging infrastructure.
- Another step taken by Renault and its network towards becoming key players in electric mobility in France.
All of the dealerships taking part in the operation and their geographical locations can be found directly onhttp://www.renault.fr/ and on the community site http://www.chargemap.fr/. The locations of the terminals have also been sent to operators such as Tom Tom, which will use them to create points of interest in the R-Link and Carminat navsat systems, and to the GIREVE for inclusion in the nationwide reference system.
The Renault network’s charging infrastructure currently offers the broadest coverage in France, with the possibility of using fast-charge terminals during the dealerships’ opening hours. This infrastructure is a real asset for Renault, since it can be used by all EV users and allows the brand to broaden its electric mobility offer for its customers, as long as they have a cable that fits type 3 connectors for electric vehicles. Information on this new service is available from reception in all the dealerships taking part, which will activate the charging station for the EV user.
This initiative puts Renault and its network in the forefront of electric mobility in France, where the installation of charging points for the general public is one of the major factors contributing to the deployment of electric vehicles. Charging stations help to reassure users and increase the scope for the use of electric vehicles.
Coinciding with 2013 Mobility Week, the potential of this network will be demonstrated by two ZOEs, as they travel from Paris to La Rochelle on France’s Atlantic coast. On September 18, the two ZOEs drove from the Eiffel Tower to the Place du Commandant de la Motte Rouge in La Rochelle, charging along the way at the Renault dealerships in Chartres, Chinon and Les Herbiers.
Elsewhere, Renault has already teamed up with the more ambitious local authorities (SydEV in the Vendée department, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais regional authority, etc.) and a number of private enterprises, such as the E. Leclerc chain of hypermarkets, in an effort to support the deployment of charging infrastructures.
