Zoomi Life

Renault has announced that they’ll be unveiling three new electric vehicles at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show this September.  One is the production-ready Fluence (Megane) EV (above) and the Kangoo EV (both slated for a 2011 release) while the third is a concept yet to be unveiled and expected to hit the market in 2012.

The new car will be a 5-door hatchback, probably similar to the Clio, Modus, Micra, or Cube (all based on a Nissan B).  The only hard promise from Renault is that the car will “have real style” to set it apart.

The new electrics from Renault will feature swappable battery packs, made to go with Nissan vehicles and their new partners at Better Place. The new Fluence (the EV version of the Megane) will be released first in Israel to go with the infrastructure Better Place has been putting together there.  It will be hitting dealerships in the second half of 2011.

By then, Better Place plans to have 150,000 plug-in stations and 100 battery swap stations in place throughout Israel.  On that note, Better Place’s swapping stations that are so far installed have now done over 1,000 battery swaps without a hitch. The stations are almost entirely automated by robots, which appear to be working nicely.

So it appears that things are falling into place for Nissan, Renault, and Better Place as they work together to produce electric cars and the infrastructure to sustain them.

It’s a good start, at least.

Speaking of Renault, they’ve released 3 new videos of the Kangoo Be Bop.  Enjoy!

Sources: Wired, AutocarUK, GreenTechMedia