Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi accelerate electrification and connectivity

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance has committed to significantly accelerating the pace in terms of electric and connected mobility. To this end, the French-Japanese car conglomerate presented a joint roadmap up to 2030. In the next five years, they plan to invest 23 billion euros in the brands' electric offensive, achieve climate neutrality by 2050, and reduce vehicle emissions across the value chain by thirty percent by 2030, as announced by Jean-Dominique Senard, Chairman of the Alliance, during a web conference for investors. These are the core points of the strategy:

• The 2030 roadmap focuses on pure electric vehicles and connected mobility.
• The Alliance will invest 23 billion euros over the next five years in the electrification offensive.
• The goal is to increase the use of shared platforms to 80 percent by 2026. Mitsubishi will strengthen its presence in Europe with two new models based on Renault models.
• With 35 new electric cars in 2030, the Alliance will offer the world’s largest range of electric cars, based on five electric car platforms.
• Nissan will introduce a new electric car based on the CMF-BEV Alliance platform, which will replace the Micra in Europe; the vehicle will be manufactured at Renault ElectriCity, the electric industry center in northern France.
• Strengthening the common battery strategy of Alliance partners with the aim of achieving a global production capacity of 220 GWh by 2030.
• Nissan will lead the development of a new solid-state battery technology, from which all Alliance members will benefit.
• Renault will lead the development of a shared electric and electronic architecture and bring the first fully software-defined vehicle to market by 2025.

Eighteen months after announcing their new business model for cooperation to enhance partners' competitiveness and profitability, the Alliance now stands on a solid foundation, benefiting from an efficient operational governance organization and more intensive and flexible collaboration, the company described. The 2020 defined "Leader-Follower scheme" will be applied, with selected technologies developed by a leading team supported by followers, ensuring that each member of the Alliance has access to all key technologies, the company further outlined.

“Among the world’s leading car manufacturers, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance is a proven and unique model. For 22 years, we have built on our respective cultures and strengths for mutual benefit,” Senard continued.

These are massive investments that none of the three companies could make alone. The Alliance will be climate neutral by 2050, promised Senard.

Five shared EV platforms

Based on a shared platform for the C- and D-segment, there are five models: Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail, Mitsubishi Outlander, Renault Austral, and a future seven-seater SUV. The Alliance partners announced that the use of shared platforms will increase from today’s 60 percent to over 80 percent of their total 90 models by 2026. In this context, Mitsubishi Motors will strengthen its presence in Europe with two new models, including the new ASX, based on Renault’s bestselling models.

The company currently sees itself as a pioneer in the electric vehicle market, having invested more than ten billion in electrification. In the key markets (Europe, Japan, USA, China), parts, engines, and batteries for ten electric car models are currently manufactured in 15 plants of the Alliance. To date, more than one million electric cars have been sold, covering 30 billion e-kilometers, according to their summary. On this basis, another 23 billion euros will be invested in electrification in the next five years. By 2030, they plan to develop 35 new e-car models.

90 percent of these models will be based on five shared EV platforms, covering most markets in all key regions:

• CMF-AEV as the basis for the Dacia Spring
• KEI-EV (mini-vehicle) platform family for ultra-compact electric vehicles
• LCV-EV Family as the basis for the Renault Kangoo and the Nissan Townstar
• CMF-EV as a global, flexible EV platform – among others, the basis for the Nissan Ariya EV Crossover and the new Renault Megane E-Tech Electric. More than 15 models will be based on the CMF-EV platform by 2030, with up to 1.5 million vehicles per year produced on this platform.
• CMF-BEV as a new compact electric car platform starting in 2024. It will be the basis for the annual production of 250,000 vehicles per year for the brands Renault, Alpine, and Nissan. The vehicles include the future Renault R5 and the new compact electric car that will replace the Nissan Micra. The new model, designed by Nissan and developed by Renault, will be manufactured at Renault ElectriCity: the industrial center for electric vehicles in northern France.

Shared battery strategy, production capacity of 220 GWh

A central pillar of the shared electric strategy is the new, shared battery strategy of the Alliance. This includes selecting a common battery supplier for Renault and Nissan in core markets. The goal is to reduce battery costs by 50 percent by 2026 and by 65 percent by 2028. By 2030, the Alliance will have a battery production capacity of a total of 220 GWh for electric vehicles at key production sites worldwide.

Solid-state batteries firmly in sight

A key focus is also on developing a shared solid-state battery technology. Nissan will lead the development in this area. The target is to double the energy density compared to current liquid lithium-ion batteries. The charging time should be reduced to one-third. The new battery technology is scheduled to be mass-produced by mid-2028 and to achieve cost parity with combustion vehicles by further reducing costs to 65 dollars per kWh.

Own battery management

For the battery management system, the Alliance has decided to fully control its hardware and software. They hope this will generate predictive data that enables monitoring the state of the battery and improving the technology. In terms of public charging of e-vehicles, the Alliance is working with strategic partners. The subsidiary Mobilize Power Solutions offers B2B customers a complete end-to-end service that includes project planning, installation, maintenance, and management of an optimized charging infrastructure, as well as all related services.

Renault taps into the Ionity network - to Plug-Surfing

A recently concluded agreement with Ionity over the Alliance Emobility Service Provider Plug Surfing allows customers access to the ultra-fast Ionity charging network in Europe at preferential rates. With more than ten years of experience in the electromobility business, the Alliance partners have high expertise in battery recycling, particularly in second-life battery applications.

Automated driving based on Nissan’s ProPilot

In terms of connectivity, the 25 million cars connected to the Alliance Cloud by 2026 are seen as a key foundation. Intelligent and connected mobility are essential areas for more joint innovation. They refer to 20 years of experience in the fields of ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and autonomous driving, such as Nissan’s ProPILOT system. Thanks to shared platforms and electronics, the partners plan to equip more than ten million vehicles with autonomous driving systems in 45 Alliance models by 2026. Already, more than three million vehicles are connected to the Alliance Cloud.

Renault to create an electric-electronic architecture

Under Renault’s leadership, a shared centralized electric and electronic architecture is to be created, bringing together electronic hardware and software applications. By 2025, the Alliance aims to launch its first fully software-defined vehicle. With this vehicle, the Alliance promises to improve the over-the-air performance of its vehicles throughout their lifecycle. Additionally, software-defined vehicles will be able to communicate with connected objects, users, and infrastructure. They hope to tap into new business fields in this area.