At the recent Frankfurt Motor Show Renault unveiled several electric concept vehicles. One vehicle, the Fluence ZE, is expected to see production numbers possibly exceeding 100,000 units per year. Producing 100,000 EVs costs a significant amount of money, but the Spanish government has stepped in to help Renault out.
Why is the Spanish government helping a French automaker? Renault's plant located in Valladolid, Spain has been chosen as one of the sites for EV production. Renault has not decided what EV model or models they will produce at the plant, but did state that the plant will produce 100,000 cars per year by 2013 with a full 20% being electric vehicles.
20,000 annual electric vehicles could be an ambitious number for one plant by 2013, but Renault along with partner Nissan aim to lead the way in the electric vehicle category.
Renault's award from the Spanish government comes in at $70 million euros. The funds will be used to ready the factory for production of EVs and will cover additional related costs. In return, Spain gets guaranteed production of 20,000 EVs within its borders by 2013 and the possibility of new jobs.
Source: AutoBlogGreen
