Renault and Nissan Will Share EV Platform, Postponing the Leaf's Future

by Matt Posky

Published: December 13th, 2016

renault and nissan will share ev platform postponing the leaf s future

Renault and Nissan will build the next-generation Zoe and Leaf electric cars using a shared platform. The cooperative endeavor should result in leaner, cleaner, and better EV technologies — something the Japanese automaker needs to implement immediately in the helplessly floundering Leaf.

While the models will have their own distinct styling, they will share the same basic framework and electric motors. Arnaud Deboeuf, senior vice president of Renault-Nissan BV, said that the new generations of the Zoe and Leaf would compete in the same segment. However, since the current Zoe is a supermini, it will need to be sized up into a compact or the Leaf will need to be miniaturized slightly.

Speaking to Automotive News, Deboeuf avoided giving a timetable for the launch for the new EVs, but suggested that it would happen after the planned Leaf refresh in 2018. France’s Les Echos reported that the Zoe wouldn’t appear before 2020. That’s a long time for the Leaf to wait as the EV landscape continues to shift.

These are not the Nissan Leaf’s salad days. No longer a technological breakthrough, the EV has hit some very hard times. Stronger competition, cheaper gas, and wild deprecation have harmed the little electric. North American Leaf sales peaked in 2014 and have plummeted since then and the car needs away to turn that around before 2020.

Nissan’s Leaf started life with a 73-mile range in 2011, boosted that to 84 miles in 2013, and introduced a 30 kilowatt-hour battery that stretched the range to 107 miles for this year. While that helped it keep pace with other BEVs, it has slowly lost ground. It also can’t stretch that range much more without a drastic redesign, effectively keeping it a short-distance commuter. That isn’t good news considering that the Tesla Model 3 and Chevrolet Bolt will have twice the range for a few thousand dollars more.

Renault recently produced an upgraded Zoe with 400 km (250 miles) of range from a single charge. The French manufacturer receives its lithium-ion pouch cells from LG Chem and Nissan could benefit greatly if some of those higher-density batteries found their way into the 107-mile Leaf before 2020. However, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, stated earlier this year that he didn’t feel that range would be the most important factor for EV success.

“The [range] anxiety is going to be eliminated only when we have a charging structure that is widespread and visible,” he said. “You go through many cars in your life. I never ask myself, ‘What is the range of your car?’ Why would you when you have gasoline stations all over the place. I know I could stop at any moment and charge my car … So this is going to be the real and final answer.”

That charging network isn’t in place yet and, even when it is, vehicles with the ability to travel long distances between stops will remain desirable. Someone might want to tell Ghosn that is why there were almost 400,000 preorders for Tesla’s Model 3 right after it was announced. It’s also why Nissan’s own e-Power system was such a sensation.

Ghosn has said the Leaf will compete with the Bolt, but it needs it now, not in a few more years when sales are even worse and its been lost in the mix of lesser EVs. However, that’s the timeline we have been given. Deboeuf said that the choice to develop a new shared-platform model wasn’t made lightly, adding that it has taken a long time for Nissan and Renault to become aligned on the project.

Hopefully the Leaf endure few more years worth of beatings.

[Image: Nissan]

#BEV #ElectricVehicles #Industry #Nissan #NissanLeaf #Renault

Matt Posky

Consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulations. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, he has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed about the automotive sector by national broadcasts, participated in a few amateur rallying events, and driven more rental cars than anyone ever should. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and learned to drive by twelve. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer and motorcycles.

More by Matt Posky

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 13 comments

Eggsalad on Dec 13, 2016

Used Leafs are killing the new Leaf business, but I don't think the used-car industry knows what to do with them. Autotrader is full of Leafs, all priced around $8k, regardless of age, mileage, or trim level. It makes no sense relative to how gasoline used cars are priced. Now, if $4k would buy me a Leaf with a solid 50 miles of range, I could justify one for commuter duty, but at $8k, I might as well commute in what I have.

Like Reply
05lgt on Dec 13, 2016

"it has taken a long time for Nissan and Renault to become aligned on the project." I would hope so. Nissan agreeing to shrink the Leaf so Renault can find a non-US applicable answer to fit both brands should take even longer. The Leaf was a cool thing, it's dead now.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

EBFlex Garbage but for less!
FreedMike I actually had a deal in place for a PHEV - a Mazda CX-90 - but it turned out to be too big to fit comfortably in my garage, thus making too difficult to charge, so I passed. But from that, I learned the Truth About PHEVs - they're a VERY niche product, and probably always be, because their use case is rather nebulous. Yes, you can run on EV power for 25-30 miles, plug it in at home on a slow charger, and the next day, you're ready to go again. Great in theory, but in practice, a) you still need a home charger, b) you paid a LOT more for the car than you would have for a standard hybrid, and c) you discover the nasty secret of PHEVs, which is that when they're on battery power, they're absolute pigs to drive. Meanwhile, to maintain its' piglike battery-only performance, it still needs to be charged, so you're running into all the (overstated) challenges that BEV owners have, with none of the performance that BEV owners like. To quote King George in "Hamilton": " Awesome. Wow." In the Mazda's case, the PHEV tech was used as a performance enhancer - which worked VERY nicely - but it's the only performance-oriented PHEV out there that doesn't have a Mercedes-level pricetag. So who's the ideal owner here? Far as I can tell, it's someone who doesn't mind doing his 25 mile daily commute in a car that's slow as f*ck, but also wants to take the car on long road trips that would be inconvenient in a BEV. Meanwhile, the MPG Uber Alles buyers are VERY cost conscious - thus the MPG Uber Alles thing - and won't be enthusiastic about spending thousands more to get similar mileage to a standard hybrid. That's why the Volt failed. The tech is great for a narrow slice of buyers, but I think the real star of the PHEV revival show is the same tax credits that many BEVs get.
RHD The speed limit was raised from 62.1 MPH to 68.3 MPH. It's a slight difference which will, more than anything, lower the fines for the guy caught going 140 KPH.
Msquare The argument for unlimited autobahns has historically been that lane discipline is a life-or-death thing instead of a suggestion. That and marketing cars designed for autobahn speeds gives German automakers an advantage even in places where you can't hope to reach such speeds. Not just because of enforcement, but because of road conditions. An old Honda commercial voiced by Burgess Meredith had an Accord going 110 mph. Burgess said, "At 110 miles per hour, we have found the Accord to be quiet and comfortable. At half that speed, you may find it to be twice as quiet and comfortable." That has sold Mercedes, BMW's and even Volkswagens for decades. The Green Party has been pushing for decades for a 100 km/h blanket limit for environmental reasons, with zero success.
Varezhka The upcoming mild-hybrid version (aka 500 Ibrida) can't come soon enough. Since the new 500e is based on the old Alfa Mito and Opel Adam platform (now renamed STLA City) you'd have thought they've developed the gas version together.