Volkswagen mulls $21K EV with Renault, but don’t get too excited
European automakers are looking to affordable EVs to help boost demand. The latest may be a 20,000 euro ($21,500) EV from Volkswagen and Renault.
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European automakers are looking to affordable EVs to help boost demand. The latest may be a 20,000 euro ($21,500) EV from Volkswagen and Renault.
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A new breed of electric vehicles is drawing inspiration from Japanese kei cars, tiny cubes-on-wheels that are highway-legal but not likely to pass muster with US or EU safety standards. But what if we loosened up those standards to help lower prices, enabling broader adoption of EVs to people who don’t have 30 grand or more to spend on a car? That is, at least, one of the ideas that French automaker Renault’s head Luca de Meo has put on the table.
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If you’ve followed cars as long as I have, you’d have been following cars since Mitsubishi was last a household name in the industry! Which is to say, in 1999, with the generation three Eclipse. But the company has hung on, sort of, particularly in its home market of Japan and developing regions of the world where it has sold super-compact and highly cost-conscious transportation.
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French automaker Renault is looking to investors, including China’s Geely, to funnel some cash into its Alpine racing and sports car brand. Alpine, best known for its A110 sports coupe, is looking to reinvent itself as an all-around player in the EV space with a line of all-electric hatchbacks, SUVs, and crossovers. The brand says it will launch in the US in 2027.
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After referring to its upcoming tiny city EV as the “Legend,” French automaker Renault has officially unveiled what is now the all-electric Twingo and released some photos. And from the looks of it, this sweet little teal number, set to be released in 2026, takes a heap of inspiration from its original ’90s hatchback.
Cheap, small, and made in Europe – Renault has hit the sweet spot with the latest announcement of its new electric city car, set to replace the popular yet quirky little Twingo e-Tech. Today the French automaker’s subsidiary Ampere released a few more details about its third upcoming affordable electric car, the Legend, which will be priced under €20,000, or less than $22,000. That is, if market realities don’t spoil all the fun.
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Renault is teasing an upcoming “affordable” city electric car to replace the Twingo as it gears up for its investor’s day tomorrow. But will it be as cheap as the Dacia Spring, Europe’s best-selling (and cheapest!) electric car?
In a big hopeful move to catch up to Tesla and Chinese manufacturers, French automaker Renault has officially separated its newly formed EV unit Ampere from the rest of the business. The company has announced its executive team, launched a new logo, and set up some highly ambitious goals as it readies its IPO – although tough market conditions won’t make this an easy affair.
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It’s official: Renault has announced that it is targeting November 1, 2023, as the day it will separate its new EV unit Ampere from the rest of the company as a first step in the run-up to the initial public offering.
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Renault Group and Volvo Group have announced the forming of a new company together to help decarbonize the logistics industry. The new joint venture will specialize in developing a lineup of all-electric vans built atop a new LCV skateboard platform.
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Niche performance automakers Lotus Cars and Renault Group subsidiary Alpine have announced that after two years, they are no long co-developing an all-electric sports coupe that was slotted to replace the combustion-dependent Alpine A110. Here’s the latest.
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Tesla’s recent further price cuts should be taken as a “warning” for other automakers amid what some see as an “EV price war,” says Renault CEO Fabrice Cambolive.
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Renault’s revived sports car brand Alpine could make a huge resurgence this decade through ambitious production and sales goals under the marque’s CEO Laurent Rossi. Rossi sees the US as a crucial market in reaching its sales targets and intends to bring two bespoke Alpine EVs to the US market that will be positioned similarly to Porsche’s two SUV models. It may take a few years though.
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While Tesla has been rolling out its global network of 30,000 fast chargers for years, Renault has announced its own plan to build a network of 200 EV ultra-fast-charging stations across Europe, kicking off first in its native France.
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Renault is shining a light on its brand-new all-electric compact Megane E-Tech, which boasted the best EV sales in France last month, with 25,000 vehicles sold in the last three months. That tallies up to a 100K/year run rate – could it outrun Telsa’s Model 3 this year?
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Last week, French company Renault announced its plan to fully review spinning off its electric car business into a separate company in 2023, in hopes of catching up with rivals Tesla and Volkswagen.
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A recent 2022 report by Zutobi has ranked the top 20 most affordable EVs to operate around the world based on a number of factors. This includes considerations such as battery size, cost to charge, and miles driven per given dollar amounts. Tesla takes the top spot this year, but there are plenty of other viable options currently available to consumers.
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Renault’s new 100%-electric Mégane E-Tech is the French company’s non-hedged bet it can convince drivers they’ve nothing to lose in swapping their traditional ICE rides for modern a EV – and gain considerable performance, cost, and flair advantages in the bargain. A day test driving the car on the roads of southern Spain suggests the company stands a good chance of winning that wager and setting some standards for European EV development as it does.
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Nissan plans to manufacture its all-new, all-electric successor to the compact Nissan Micra at the Renault ElectriCity center in France, where the retro-styled hatchback will serve to kick off the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance 2030 roadmap, its planned 23 billion Euro investment in EVs, and the group’s push for solid-state batteries.
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Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are expected to announce this week that they will form an alliance to jointly develop electric vehicles, according to an exclusive story published by Reuters today.
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Chinese automotive giant and Volvo/Polestar parent company, Geely, has signed an agreement with the French Renault Group to launch a new collaboration intended to bring fuel-efficient hybrid electric cars to South Korea, as well as export sales into other Asian markets.
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French automaker Renault has joined the all-electric party in Europe, as its CEO recently shared news that the brand would become 100% electric by 2030. While the announcement is welcomed progress, its timing also correlates with current climate proposals in the UK and EU that will limit ICE by 2030, and require 100% EV sales by 2035. Conversely, another Renault exec has openly spoken out against the ICE ban.
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It really isn’t much fun being a non-German brand at a German motor show. While Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, and co. drew all the headlines with their enormous and elaborate display stands, poor Renault was tucked away in an easily missable corner of a much quieter hall of the Munich expo center.
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During IAA Mobility in Munich this week, an executive for Renault Group stated plans to seek an extension of the recently proposed 2035 ban of all internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales in the EU. According to the report, Renault wants an extension to around 2040 in order to provide more affordable cars to consumers before more expensive EVs become mandatory.
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