Renault announced Monday it had signed “two major partnerships” related to the design and production of electric vehicle batteries, becoming the latest automotive firm attempting to get ahead of the competition in the increasingly crowded e-mobility space.
In a statement, the carmaker said it would partner with China’s Envision AESC, which is set to develop a gigafactory in Douai, northern France. Renault said this facility would have a capacity of 9 gigawatt hours by the year 2024 and aim to grow to 24 GWh by the year 2030.
Envision AESC is part of the larger Envision Group, a self-described “greentech” firm headquartered in Shanghai. Renault said Envision AESC would invest as much as 2 billion euros ($2.38 billion) “to produce latest technology, cost-competitive, low-carbon and safe batteries for electric models.”
Monday also saw Renault announce it had signed a memorandum of understanding to take a stake of more than 20% in a French firm called Verkor. Other shareholders in the company, which is based in the French city of Grenoble, include Schneider Electric, Capgemini, EIT InnoEnergy and Groupe IDEC.
