by Gilles Guillaume
PARIS (Reuters) – The new research and development partnership between Renault and Airbus in solid electric batteries is complementary to the work carried out by Nissan within the alliance, said on Wednesday Jean-François Salessy, head of advanced technologies of the group at the diamond.
“It comes in addition to what Nissan is currently doing,” he answered an online question about the place of this new partnership vis-à-vis the Renault-Nissan alliance, whose future structure makes the subject of discussions entered in the home stretch.
At a time when the automotive industry is facing major investments in electrification and connected cars, Renault is multiplying partnerships to stay in the race, from Google to Qualcomm in on-board electronics to Geely and Valeo in engines – thermal or electric – via the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, with whom an agreement was announced on Wednesday at the Airbus Summit in Toulouse.
This proliferation of new partners raises questions about the future scope of the historic alliance between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. The solid-state battery, whose energy density could be twice that of current batteries by 2030, is notably a flagship project for the three partners, led by Nissan on behalf of its two associates.
Asked to say if the work with Airbus on this aspect would replace that of Nissan, Jean-François Salessy answered no.
“But the technological solution leading to mass production (solid-state batteries) is not yet identified, and we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket,” he added.
Renault and Nissan are currently discussing a capital rebalancing of their 20-year-old alliance as well as Nissan’s – and later Mitsubishi’s – stake in Renault’s future electrics entity, sources told Reuters.
A dozen industrial and technological projects are also on the table, proof according to the partners that despite the disgrace of Carlos Ghosn, who for a long time embodied the Franco-Japanese partnership, and the ongoing redefinition of the alliance, it has still of the future.
(Gilles Guillaume, edited by Blandine Hénault)