Renault has unveiled the final production versions of two new all-electric cars, one of which will be the foundation of the Better Place network in Israel.
Prospective customers are now able to visit Renault's website to reserve the Fluence Z.E. sedan and Kangoo Z.E. van, both of which have a 100 mile range and will be available in 2011.
Most importantly, the Fluence Z.E. is the first production-ready car that can take advantage of Better Place's battery swapping system. Renault says that in addition to a conventional plug-in charge, a Fluence's depleted battery can be swapped for a fully-charged one in under three minutes.
Renault expects to sell 100,000 Fluences in Denmark and Israel alone before 2016. While the Danish cars will be sold at Renault dealers, the Israeli Fluences will all be imported by Better Place.
According to the Israeli financial daily Globes, it is not yet known whether Fluence Z.E.s imported to Israel will also allow conventional charging in addition to battery swaps.
Unlike Renault's futuristic electric concepts, the production version of neither the electric Fluence nor Kangoo is remarkably different in appearance from its gasoline-powered stablemates. Still, the Fluence will be visually distinct: those 550 pounds of lithium-ion batteries in the trunk forced Renault to stretch the car five inches from the ordinary Fluence.
There are performance differences, too. Both the Kangoo and Fluence Z.E. will be electronically limited to 83 mph, while the Fluence's suspension will be tuned to support the heavy battery pack that makes the electric Fluence weigh 660 lbs. more than the internal-combustion version. While the Fluence's trunk is somewhat compromised by the battery pack, the cargo-hauling Kangoo will feature the same capacity as the internal-combustion version.
Photos: Renault
