Renault-Nissan Alliance and Portugal Sign EV Agreement for 2010
November 25, 2008 by admin
It’s official, Nissan-Renault Alliance are ruling right now, hot of the heels of announcements of direct zero-emission mobility partnerships with Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama City in Japan, the States of Tennessee and Oregon, Monaco, Sonoma County in California, and the French utility giant EDF. Now the Government of Portugal and the Renault-Nissan Alliance announced a comprehensive partnership to deliver zero emission mobility to Portugal from 2010. The plan will utilize electric vehicles supplied by the Alliance, and will leverage an extensive charging network that will be built across Portugal over the next three years. Somebody at VW, BMW and everyone else better wake up and smell the solder, or they are going to be playing catch up for years to come.
The plan calls for 1,300 vehicle charging locations to be operational by the end of 2011, with 320 of those locations already in place in 2010.
In July, Portugal became the first European country to establish a partnership directly with the Renault-Nissan Alliance to explore zero emission mobility. The goal was to address concerns such as global warming, dependence on oil and sustainable mobility. After four months of discussion and analysis, Portugal became the first European country to sign a final agreement with the Alliance for implementing a zero emission mobility program.
Portugal will also offer incentives to electric vehicle purchasers, including an income tax credit for individuals and corporate tax reductions for fleet purchases of electric vehicles. The tax incentives, which begin in late 2010, will last at least five years.
Carlos Tavares, executive vice president of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. said “We realized early on that zero-emission mobility goes far beyond the vehicle itself. It requires extensive collaboration with government and other partners to ensure success.”
The Government of Portugal is also making it cumpulsory that 20% of public fleet vehicle purchases be zero-emission, starting in 2011.
Additional measures, such as reduced parking rates, preferential access and financing subsidies are being studied further. Public awareness and educational activities, including electric vehicle demonstrations, will begin in 2010.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance, which aims to be the global leader in zero-emission mobility, will bring electric vehicles to Portugal in early 2011, making Portugal one of the first countries to be supplied with electric vehicles from the Alliance. In 2012, Nissan and Renault will mass-market electric vehicles globally.
After Denmark, Israel and Australia it is now Portugal’s turn to realize that the rising numbers of electric vehicles on the road are going to require recharging infrastructure to be in place. In years to come we will be seeing many more EVs on the road.