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Recharge Wrap-up: No Tesla Gigafactory deal with California, BMW i3 recalled

Thu, Sep 4 2014 Before the Nevada announcement was hinted at, a deal to incentivize a Tesla Gigafactory in California fell through. Tesla was looking for around $500 million in incentives, which the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development was willing to offer in tax breaks along with making the permit and environmental processes easier. According to Senator Ted Gaines, there still remained "a gap between what Tesla wanted and what California was willing to offer," the contents of which were undisclosed. California could still be chosen for another of Tesla's battery plants, should those ever materialize. Read more at The Desert Sun.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will consider allowing a bit of compliance flexibility to its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations for some automakers. CARB will hold a hearing to discuss giving intermediate volume manufacturers (IVMs) - carmakers that do between 4,501 and 60,000 new vehicle sales in the state - some leniency catching up to the larger manufacturers when it comes to clean vehicle production. The ZEV regulation changes take into account the amount of revenue IVMs have available for developing the cars, particularly plug-in hybrids. Read more at Green Car Congress or see the notice from CARB here.

Certain units of the BMW i3 are subject to an airbag recall. For cars built March 31, 2014, the passenger airbag inflator may have been assembled incorrectly, which could keep it from deploying when needed. Owners will be notified by BMW, and the problem will be fixed for free. The recall also affects certain 2014 Mini Cooper models. Learn more at the NHTSA website.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is providing 200 electric vehicles to telecommunications company Orange in France. The cars, which will include the Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, Renault ZOE and Renault Kangoo ZE, will be used mostly for carsharing. Through the program, Orange employees can book a car for work or personal travel using a smartphone. The Alliance will also help Orange install charging stations for the new cars. The addition of the EVs to the fleet will help Orange achieve its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2020. Read more in the press release, below.

Jianghuai Automobile Company (JAC) is delivering its first 100 EVs to the US. The shipment is part of a larger order of 2,000 cars to be sold by GreenTech Automotive in the US market. Read more at ECNS.
RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE & ORANGE EXPAND ELECTRIC VEHICLE PARTNERSHIP

- Renault-Nissan to supply 200 electric vehicles to Orange in France by 2015, mostly for car-sharing purposes
- Fleet will comprise Renault ZOE, Renault Kangoo Z.E., Nissan LEAF and Nissan e-NV200
- Agreement expected to help contribute to Orange's commitment to reduce its CO2 footprint by 20% by 2020

PARIS (Sept. 3, 2014) –The Renault-Nissan Alliance has signed an agreement with Orange, one of the world's largest telecommunications operators, to supply it with a fleet of 200 electric vehicles for its needs in France.

Renault-Nissan, the global leader in sustainable mobility, will provide the 100% electric vehicles to Orange by 2015. Orange will use the electric vehicles mostly for car-sharing purposes between its buildings and installations in France. Orange currently has about 2,000 pool vehicles in France with about 100 cars (hybrid, electric, diesel, etc.) available for car-sharing purposes. Using the Orange Auto Partage application, employees can book a car for professional or personal use online or via a smartphone.

The Renault-Nissan electric fleet will comprise the Renault ZOE subcompact, the Renault Kangoo Z.E. van, the newly launched Nissan e-NV200 van and the Nissan LEAF, the world's best-selling electric vehicle ever. Orange already owns a fleet of about thirty tandem 2-seat Twizys it has acquired from Renault since 2012.

"We believe that the use of electric vehicles needs to be encouraged both professionally and privately. Therefore, this agreement with the Renault-Nissan Alliance contributes to helping us meet our commitment to a 20% reduction in our CO2 footprint by 2020," said Helene Billon, Orange Facilities & Mobility Management Director. "By that time, we hope to continue the acquisition of more than 1,000 electric vehicles, notably to account for about one-third of our car-sharing fleet in France."

"Thanks to the partnership between Renault and Nissan, the Alliance is able to provide Orange with the widest range of electric vehicles to meet its needs - from subcompact passenger cars to light-commercial vehicles," said Christian Mardrus, Alliance Executive Vice President for Renault-Nissan B.V. and the Alliance CEO Office. "More Orange employees will soon be able to enjoy the many benefits of electric mobility: zero noise, smooth handling and acceleration, and zero tailpipe emissions. And the vehicles can be fully recharged with renewable energy at night, so they can be 100% charged every morning."

Renault-Nissan will accompany Orange in the installation of a network of charging stations at the sites which adopt the car-sharing service.

The electric vehicles procurement agreement between the Alliance and Orange is part of a wider international partnership between the two companies.

Renault-Nissan Alliance, global leader in electric vehicles

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is the world's leader in electric mobility with the widest range of 100% electric vehicles, which can be charged with purely renewable energy and consume no petrol whatsoever. To date, the Alliance has sold 176,000 electric vehicles globally, more than all other major automakers combined.

Nissan LEAF won the 2011 World Car of the Year, European Car of the Year 2011 and Car of the Year Japan 2011-2012 awards. Renault Kangoo was voted International Van of the Year 2012.

Renault and Nissan have signed several major EV fleet deals around the world. In 2011, La Poste in France placed a bid for more than 10,000 Renault Kangoo Z.E.s. More recently, AVIS car rental in Denmark ordered 400 Nissan LEAFs, the biggest single order for the electric vehicle so far. The Nissan LEAF is also part of taxi programs in several big cities around the world, including Amsterdam, Madrid, Tokyo, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Zurich.

ABOUT THE RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE:
The Renault-Nissan Alliance is a strategic partnership between Paris-based Renault and Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan, which together sell one in 10 cars worldwide. The companies, which have been strategic partners since 1999, sold 8.3 million cars in nearly 200 countries in 2013. The Alliance also operates strategic collaborations with automakers including Germany's Daimler, China's Dongfeng, and India's Ashok Leyland and recently took a majority stake in Russia's top automaker, AVTOVAZ.

www.media.renault.com
www.nissan-newsroom.com
blog.alliance-renault-nissan.com

ABOUT ORANGE:
Orange is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with sales of 41 billion euros in 2013 and has 161,000 employees worldwide at 30 June 2014, including 101,000 employees in France. Present in 30 countries, the Group has a total customer base of more than 236 million customers at 30 June 2014, including 179 million mobile customers and 16 million fixed broadband customers worldwide. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. Orange is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN). For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com, www.livetv.orange.com or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr. Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.
Related Gallery Tesla Motors Gigafactory plan
  • News Source: The Desert Sun, NHTSA, Renault Nissan, Green Car Congress, California Air Resources Board, ECNS
  • Image Credit: Renault Nissan / Stephane Foulon
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  • BMW
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By John Beltz Snyder


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