1356: 28 Jan 2022 | Renault-Nissan Plan For 35 EVs on Five Common Platforms - a podcast by EV News Daily

Show #1356

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 27th January. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

Thank you to MYEV.com for helping make this show, they’ve built the first marketplace specifically for Electric Vehicles. It’s a totally free marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling process, and help you learn about EVs along the way too.

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has unveiled a joint electromobility roadmap until 2030, which envisages investments of a further 23 billion euros over the next five years. The roadmap thus goes beyond what had been leaked in advance.

According to Renault’s announcement, however, there will be 35 new electric vehicle models, based on five electric car platforms.

A central pillar of the joint electric strategy is also the alliance’s new joint battery strategy. This includes, among other things, the selection of a joint battery supplier for Renault and Nissan in the core markets. The goal is to reduce battery costs by 50 per cent by 2026 and 65 per cent by 2028.

Nissan will lead the development of all-solid-state battery technology for all three carmakers, while Renault will lead development of common centralised electrical and electronic architecture.

The five platforms are: 

CMF-AEV, which the alliance says will be the most affordable platform in the world, is the base for the new Dacia Spring. 

KEI-EV (mini vehicle) platform family for ultra-compact EVs. 

LCV-EV Family platform family for professional customers, as the base for the Renault Kangoo and Nissan Town Star. 

CMF-EV, the global, flexible, EV platform. It will be on the roads in a few weeks as the base for the Nissan Ariya EV crossover and Renault Megane E-Tech Electric. The CMF-EV platform, with its technological innovations and the potential offered by its modularity, is a benchmark platform for a new generation of electric vehicles for the Alliance partners. The platform has been created to integrate and optimise all the elements specific to a 100% electric powertrain, hosting a new, high-performance motor and an ultra-thin battery. By 2030, more than 15 models will be based on the CMF-EV platform, with up to 1.5 million cars produced on this platform per year.

 CMF-BEV, the most competitive compact electric platform in the world, to be launched in 2024. It provides up to 400 km range; its aerodynamics performances are outstanding, helping reduce cost by 33% and power consumption by more than 10% compared to the current Renault ZOE. It will be the base for 250,000 vehicles a year under the Renault, Alpine and Nissan brands. Among the vehicles are the Renault R5 and the new compact EV that will replace the Nissan Micra. Designed by Nissan and engineered by Renault, the new model is planned to be manufactured at Renault ElectriCity: the electric industrial center in Northern France.

Some of the headline figures had already been announced by each company, but it marks the first concrete target set collectively by the trio since the reorganisation of top executives at Japan's Nissan and France's Renault.

That restructuring was triggered by the saga surrounding the 2018 arrest of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, which exposed rifts in the alliance.

To achieve its goals, the alliance said it aimed to increase cooperation on common platforms from 60% to 80% of its models by 2026.The trio also announced a target of reaching a total EV battery production capacity of 220 gigawatt hours by the end of the decade

Nissan has revealed a short teaser video previewing a sub-compact hatchback with round headlights and taillights, while also indicating that the model will receive a different name when it arrives in the metal.

The new model is slated to be based on the CMF B-EV platform, shared with Renault, with the French automaker expected to use the platform for its own model, which will be the spiritual successor to the Renault 5

The successor to the Micra will be designed by Nissan but engineered by Renault in France and built there as well, at Renault's new ElectriCity manufacturing hub that has combined and repurposed several existing sites.

This week, Volkswagen is giving journalists a first taste of the ID. Buzz during a "covered drive" event in Barcelona, Spain.  Someone likely attending the event has posted the first photos of the electric van's interior on the VWIDTalk forum, giving us a look at the roomy and colorful cabin for the first time.

While the dashboard is partially covered, we see enough to realize that the interior design is very similar to the ID.3 and ID.4. The multifunction steering wheel and the digital instrument cluster behind it look identical, as does the high-set central touchscreen.

We can also spot storage spaces between the front seats and on the door panels, but the detail that caught forum visitors' attention the most is the lack of floor rails as showcased on the ID. Buzz Concept in 2017.

On the design study, the clever system allowed the seats and center console to be moved around into various positions, making the interior adaptable to different uses.

VW will only offer a long-wheelbase ID. Buzz in North America, while Europe will get a standard-wheelbase passenger version and an ID. Buzz Cargo commercial variant.

Today’s official start of production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX02 marks the completion of Volkswagen’s successful transformation of its Zwickau plant into a dedicated electric vehicle production facility. The long-established site in western Saxony is the first large-scale facility of any volume manufacturer worldwide to switch over all production from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles. Six models from the Volkswagen, Audi and CUPRA brands will now be manufactured in Zwickau based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB). The plants in Emden (ID.4), Hanover (ID. Buzz) and Chattanooga (USA, ID.4) will be added to the electric vehicle production network this year. The Volkswagen brand has thus laid the foundations for building 1.2 million all-electric-vehicles at its sites in Europe, the USA and China in 2022 based on the MEB.

The BMW i3 is set to end production in just six months time, after a run of nine years and around 250,000 units sold.

In an interview with Autocar, a BMW spokesperson confirmed the final example of the compact electric five-door is due to roll off BMW’s production line in Leipzig, Germany in July ahead of a reorganisation of the manufacturing facility in preparation for a start of production for the upcoming third-generation Mini Countryman during the second half of 2022.

Previewed in concept car form in 2011 prior to a UK launch in 2013, the i3 was the first BMW model to offer a pure-electric driveline

BYD has signed a framework agreement with the municipal government of the city of Xiangyang in the Chinese province of Hubei for the construction of an industrial park where, among other things, traction batteries for electric cars will be produced.

the first phase is to include the development and production of battery cells, battery modules and other core components for e-cars with an annual production capacity of 30 GWh.

In the second phase, suppliers of cathode and anode materials, copper and aluminium foils, separators, electrolytes and structural parts for battery packs will be located in the industrial park. The third phase will focus on winning projects related to components such as electric motors, electric control units, air conditioners, wiring harnesses and gearboxes.

Tom Moloughney’s Lucid Air 70mph range test yielded a real world highway range of 500 miles. That raises the bar by a huge amount and make the Lucid Air easily the longest range EV ever tested. But…do EV’s ever need a range of 500 miles?

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