Renault is pondering to make 300 rental Zoe available free of charge for medical personnel in France in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The electric cars could be taken from the standing fleet of the Zity car-sharing service.

Following a successful ‘try before you buy‘ loan scheme for electric vehicles in Nottingham, DriveElectric the offer could “act as a blueprint for cities across the UK”.

First carmakers announce closures of factories in Europe due to the Coronavirus crisis unfolding on the continent. PSA will lockdown all vehicle production plants in Europe by 27 March and the French carmaker is not the only one.

As the British government cuts the Plug-in Car Grants, first carmakers react. Renault UK will top-up the new PiCG of £3,000 by £500 for all Zoe orders placed before 31 March 2020.

Car-sharing in Europe is going electric as city regulators increasingly inhibit polluting vehicles and an ever-increasing range of electric car models becomes available. We analyse the industry developments.

Renault released a preview of the first electric model of the Dacia brand with the show car Dacia Spring. As expected, this is a modification of the Renault City K-ZE that is being offered in China at competitive prices.

Renault’s new model study should show the way of future developments with the new CMF-EV platform. The Morphoz is distinguished through an interesting body extension, inductive charging capabilities and level 3 autonomous driving functions.

Renault and Ferrovial will bring their electric car-sharing Zity, which was launched in Madrid in 2017, to Paris in March. The launch on the Seine will take place with 500 Renault Zoe, which should replace Renault’s previous Moov’in fleet. In the coming years, the electric car-sharing service is to be extended to other European cities.

Renault has introduced the Twingo Z.E. and announced that sales are scheduled to launch at the end of this year. The battery-electric version of the small car will be equipped with an electric motor with 60 kW output and a water-cooled battery pack with a capacity of 21 kWh.

Renault has now officially confirmed that the first electric model from its Romanian subsidiary Dacia will come out within the next two years. There are many indications that this will be the modified version of the Renault City K-ZE electric compact car offered in China for the European market.

Renault has presented the revised Mégane, which will be available for the first time from summer 2020 with the plug-in hybrid drive called E-Tech. Although the PHEV has two electric motors, it has a relatively small battery.

Renault is planning to launch the all-electric Twingo Z.E. before the end of this year, two years earlier than was speculated. The French manufacturer also announced the new hybrid models and its sales figures for 2019.

Denmark’s all-electric car-sharing provider GreenMobility is expanding into Belgium with a new operating licence in Antwerp. The company wants to set up a joint venture with local partners, that is to run a fleet of up to 350 e-cars.

ZF has developed a hybrid driveline for the Dakar Rally with MKR Technology that was recently launched. The CeTrax Lite RS e-drive is used in the four-wheel-drive truck of the Riwald-Dakar team.

Zipcar’s new electric van sharing service took off in Brixton, where it is available for small businesses to join. The van sharing service, run through Zipcar for Business, uses a Renault Kangoo Maxi ZE.

According to German media, the planned modified version of the Renault City K-ZE small electric car offered in China is now headed for Europe. Here, the electric vehicle is to run under the Dacia brand in 2021 with a new name.

The new Renault Zoe can now only be bought in Great Britain with a battery-electric version. The possibility of battery leasing is thus eliminated. In Germany, however, Renault will continue to offer both options.

In Paris, Renault electric car batteries have been given a second life on the Seine. They supply electricity to the ‘Black Swan’ electric motorboat, which is used for two-hour excursions in Paris for groups of up to eight people. And, the operator has bigger plans.

Renault is planning a modified version of the City K-ZE small electric car offered at competitive prices in China for the European market. However, the price for Europe is still unclear, as is the brand under which the K-ZE will be sold in Europe.

Zalando is testing the delivery of parcels with electric vehicles in Hamburg. For the test, which is initially limited to three months, Zalando is using electric vehicles powered by green electricity from Mercedes, Nissan, Renault and a micro delivery vehicle from Ari Motors.

Renault is equipping its Kangoo Z.E. and Master Z.E. electric vehicles with a fuel cell system – but as a range extender and not as the main source of energy. This should increase the range of the two models to up to 370 kilometres.

Vulog is a technology platform that backs many of today’s car-sharing offers. With its global presence, Vulog is running a series of mobility talks, and CEO Gregory Ducongé and Nora Manthey sat down at the London session, where the CEO shared his insights into urban co-mobility.

The Israeli company ElectReon Wireless has successfully charged a Renault Zoe inductively while driving. This was achieved along a 20-metre long section of track equipped with coils embedded in a section of road in the coastal town of Beit Yanai in Israel.

The Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS) has ordered 45 Renault Zoe. The electric cars will be used throughout Scotland as the company’s general pool vehicles, each covering at least 10,000 miles per year.

Renault is about to open the order books for the latest iteration for its best-selling electric car. The new Zoe will be available to order from mid-September, with prices starting at just £18,670 before battery rent. Customer deliveries will begin in January 2020.

After Renault presented the series version of its small electric car City K-ZE at Auto Shanghai in April, the market launch in China followed suit and with a drumroll. Renault set a base price of 61,800 yuan, and currently, that converts to just under 7,900 euros.

Together with its automotive partners, Enel has completed the construction of all 200 fast-charging stations of EU project EVA+ (Electric Vehicle Arteries) in Italy and Austria. In both countries the 50 kW multi-chargers now add up to 400 charging points for all kinds of electric cars.

Dutch smart charging specialist Jedlix and the Elaad Competence Centre have concluded that Renault Zoe can be used in a balancing capacity of TenneT in the Netherlands.

According to the latest CAM ‘Electromobility Report’, in which 212 series innovations in e-mobility have been evaluated by 30 car manufacturers over the past five years, German automobile manufacturers still have catching up to do.

It is no secret that Renault intends to offer a total of eight fully electric models by 2022. Now, a model plan reveals which other battery-electric vehicles Renault is planning.