renault

In recent years, auto manufacturers have been scrambling to integrate mobile applications with their vehicle's infotainment platform. Renault decided to cut to the chase and integrate a tablet in the vehicle.

R-Link is a voice-activated telematics platform that controls vehicle functionality and integrates native and smartphone-based social media, entertainment, navigation, and community applications on its 7-inch touch-screen display. When the new system debuts on the Renault ZOE and Clio in 2012, it will already contain 50 applications, and will integrate approved smartphone apps.

Drivers will be able to download new apps directly to the vehicle's tablet from the … Read more

Recognizing that work and family time often overlap, Renault announced plans to debut an electric compact van that doubles as a family car at the Frankfurt auto show this fall.

The Renault Frendzy concept combines the utility of a cargo van with a comfortable interior that works for personal use. A sliding door on the passenger side and carriage doors on the driver side give the Frendzy the look of a Ford C-Max and Honda Element mashup. The front passenger seat and rear two-seater bench stow away to make room for cargo, and the Frendzy's fabric roof stretches to … Read more

Better Place held a demonstration at the first of 20 Better Place battery-switching stations planned for Denmark over the next year, the company announced today.

The station was installed in Gladsaxe, a town outside of Copenhagen. Its inaugural battery swap was conducted on a Renault Fluence Z.E.

Better Place offers a subscription service in which drivers of electric cars have their depleted car batteries swapped for a fully recharged one at any member station, in lieu of waiting 15-30 minutes for a partial charge, or hours to fully recharge at a charging station.

The company launched its first retail … Read more

Better Place, which offers battery service for electric vehicles, opened today its first European retail station in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Better Place stations offer battery swaps for electric vehicles as an alternative to waiting to recharge the batteries. Commercial stations are already running in Israel and Japan. Until now, though, Better Place had only been testing pilot stations in the U.S. and Europe.

Most of the stations offer fast-charging plug-in spots for EVs, as well as battery swaps for subscribing members. The battery swap is a convenience for drivers because it takes only a minute to make the switch, according … Read more

Renault/Nissan expects to produce 500,000 electric cars annually worldwide at the end of 2013 and does not need a successful launch of the General Motors Volt to help spur interest in the newest green technology and sell its vehicles, Renault/Nissan's chief executive said yesterday.

Carlos Ghosn told reporters that the Nissan Leaf, the alliance's signature all-electric vehicle due out in the United States and Japan in December, will be capacity-constrained in the first years.

But the company expects to ramp up production as battery costs come down and believes that, within several years, its electric … Read more

PARIS--There's a strange disconnect surrounding Better Place, the company best known for its plan to extend the range of electric vehicles by relying on speedy battery swaps.

Automotive executives are nearly unanimous in dismissing the idea. With the conspicuous exception of Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, rarely does an executive express interest.

Yet Better Place is getting increasingly credible support from governments, banks, and major corporations. So far this year, it has signed an extensive deal with General Electric and picked up $350 million in financing.

In an interview at the Paris auto show, Shai Agassi, the Palo Alto, Calif., company's founder and CEO, attributed his cool reception in automotive circles to "a lack of belief that something that big can happen in the industry."

Chinese automakers are more receptive than traditional industry powers, he added.

"Incumbents in an industry that is slow to change tend to believe that the speed of change will remain constant," Agassi said. … Read more

Paris is noted as a fashion center, so we weren't surprised to find a number of very stylish concept cars at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

As one example, French carmaker Citroen teamed up with Lacoste to design a very fun-looking car built for fun in the sun. Meanwhile Renault offered the very sexy DeZir concept in luscious red with pronounced curves.

But other regions of the world were not left out. Jaguar offers up the incredibly sleek C-X75 and Nissan came out with a funky utility car.

And BMW fans finally got treated to a taste of what … Read more

A new concept car from Renault shows that the French romantic tradition even applies to automotive design. The DeZir represents the first step in a life cycle, according to Renault, that encompasses falling in love, exploring the world, creating a family, working, taking time to play, and attaining wisdom.

Renault's chief designer, Laurens van den Acker, plans a whole line of concept cars that stand for each of these steps.

As the falling in love car, DeZir is bright red, with softly curving lines. More pointedly, this two-seater uses a bench seat, keeping the occupants close together.

To us, … Read more

Renault announced a sales target of 200,000 electric vehicles by 2015, according to an article in La Tribune. The French automaker will introduce its first electric vehicle--a version of a medium-size family sedan--in Israel and Denmark in 2011, followed by an electric version of New Kangoo based on the ZE Concept car for fleet sales.

While its sales goal forecast sounds high for a technology that hasn't yet reached mass production, the Nissan-Renault alliance partnership, which enables the carmakers to share key electric car components, is poised to meet whatever manufacturing demand exists.

The expanded Nissan plant in Smyrna and new battery manufacturing facility … Read more