The first production electric vehicle from Renault will feature a replaceable battery pack designed to work with the $500,000 battery swap station designed by Silicon Valley startup Better Place.
The car, which is based on the Megane sedan (pictured) and called the Fluence, will place the battery behind the rear seat. An opening under the car will allow the Better Place swap station to remove and replace the battery in about the time it takes to fill a car with gasoline. We'll see the car at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, according to Israel's Globes Online.
Renault is working with Better Place to bring electric vehicles -- and the infrastructure needed to keep them going -- to Israel and says the Fluence will be launched in Israel during the second half of 2011. Better Plans to have 150,000 plug-in charging stations and about 100 battery swap stations throughout the country by then.
The Fluence is one of three electric cars the French automaker is bringing to Frankfurt.
In addition to the Fluence, Renault will show off the too-cute Kangoo be bop Z.E., which has a claimed range of 60 to 100 miles from a lithium-ion battery, and a concept car of some kind.
Renault isn't saying anything about the concept, but Autocar says it is a hatchback probably based on the Renault Clio or Nissan Cube (Renault owns Nissan). The French magazine Auto Plus says it's a hatchback that is based on the Twingo and looks a bit like the Smart.
Whatever the case, Renault says all of its EVs will feature unique, but not outlandish, styling.
“We want a real signature for our electric range, so when people see one in the street they will know it is a Renault electric car,” development chief Christian Steyer told Autocar. “The key is to do this without frightening customers away. Customers must be tempted, and not rushed too fast."
The Fluence's battery and drivetrain specs haven't been disclosed, but according to Globes, car will feature two charging options besides the swap technology Renault calls "Quick Drop." You can recharge the pack in six to eight hours using a 220-volt line at 10 to 16 amperes. A second option uses a 440-volt line -- often available in industrial settings and large office buildings -- with a three-phase 32-ampere socket to give you an 80 percent charge in about 30 minutes, according to Globes.
"For some car users, the economic arguments of electric cars will be too good to resist,” Steyer said, according to Autocar. “With the Quick Drop system there is no excuse – you can get a new battery faster than you can fill up with fuel at a pump.”
Better Place founder Shai Agassi wants to bring the cell phone subscription model to electric cars. The company will provide the infrastructure for motorists to charge their batteries and bill them for the power they use. Subscribers also will be able to "swap" the batteries at a swap station similar to the prototype Better Place unveiled in Japan in May.
“We’re an electrical services provider,” is how Sidney Goodman, Better Place VP of auto alliances, explained it to us recently. “We buy batteries and electricity, and we sell miles.”
The swap station works a lot like an automated car wash, and Better Place says it can swap your dead battery for a fresh one and have you on your way in less than five minutes. Because people will subscribe the the service and not actually own the battery in the car, Goodman says people will be guaranteed a fresh battery. Better Place sees the swap stations as something people would use only occasionally - during a long trip, for example - and it expects most people to plug their cars in overnight.
Renault also is working with French electricity company EDF to develop a charging network in France that would allow cars to communicate with charging stations using something the two companies call "power line communications." The technology would allow for the secure transmission of data between the charging stations and the cars, including vehicle identification numbers and billing information.
Photo: Renault
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