Renault confirms Twizy production

Renault has confirmed it will be putting its all-electric Twizy ZE city car into production in 2011.

The production version is likely to remain relatively unchanged from the concept unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September and it will be built at the firm’s Valladolid plant in Spain.

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The Modus and some Clio models are built at the plant near Madrid and it has been chosen for its experience in building small cars.

Valladolid’s sister plant in Flins, France will be used to build a production version of the Zoe ZE supermini concept in 2012, although unlike the Twizy, it won’t bear much resemblance to the concept seen at Frankfurt.

The Flins site will then become the central hub to Renault's EV activity, producing the company's core electric supermini as well as manufacturing and recycling EV batteries. The all-electric supermini based on the Zoe is predicted to make up two thirds of the firm’s EV sales in Europe.

The firm will begin marketing its electric cars in 2011 ahead of the Twizy going on-sale later that year or early in 2012.

Video - Steve Cropley drives the Renault Twizy

A letter of intent has also been signed today between the Renault-Nissan alliance, the Atomic Energy Commission and France’s Strategic Investment Fund to set up a French joint venture focused on EV battery advanced research, industrialisation and recycling.

Renault will use its battery plants in France, the UK and Portugal to supply EVs built around Europe, with the first batch set to come from the Flins site.

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said: “Realising the potential of zero-emission mobility on a mass scale requires unique collaboration between public and private sectors.”

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