To coincide with the presentation of the plan to deploy public charging infrastructure for carbon-free vehicles (announcement made by Jean-Louis Borloo, Minister of State for the Environment, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea), ADEME (the French Environmental and Energy Management Agency) has confirmed that it will support the project with €6.5 million funding.

Rueil-Malmaison - The main project partners, the Renault-Nissan Alliance and EDF, supported by the Ile de France region and the Yvelines General Council, are proud to be able to carry out this full-scale experiment in collaboration with Schneider Electric, Better Place and a variety of other partners.

This project is made possible thanks to a technical and financial partnership involving all of the public and private organizations concerned, under the coordination of EPAMSA (public development authority for the Seine Aval area).

Approximately one hundred Renault and Nissan electric vehicles (saloons and light commercial vehicles) will be tested out by individual customers and professionals on the territory under the Opération d’Intérêt National Seine Aval, in Yvelines. Users will be provided with charging infrastructure at home and the workplace, as well as in car parks and on public roads.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance will supply the electric vehicles, conduct the experiment and study customer uses and associated services, particularly those linked to in-vehicle and external communications. EDF will help set up the infrastructure and analyze user behaviour towards charging and testing business models. Schneider Electric will help build the charging infrastructure and the related energy management mechanisms. Better Place will install and manage the battery switch stations and test the associated commercial offerings.
 

The details of the proposed SAVE project were submitted to ADEME under the request for proposals on carbon-free vehicles of June 26, 2009. As a result, ADEME has now revealed that the SAVE project has been selected for funding as an experiment to test operational electric mobility solutions.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance
The Renault-Nissan Alliance celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2009, a year in which it sold more than six million vehicles. The Alliance’s objective is to rank among the top three global carmakers on quality, technology and profitability. It is working on collaborative projects with institutions, governments and businesses, to which it contributes its automotive expertise. More than 50 agreements have thus far been signed worldwide, aimed at developing electric vehicles for as early as 2010 and marketing these vehicles widely from 2012.

EDF
The EDF Group, one of the leaders in the European energy market, is an integrated energy company active in all businesses: generation, transmission, distribution, energy supply and trading. The Group is the leading electricity producer in Europe. In France, it has mainly nuclear and hydraulic production facilities where 95% of the electricity output is CO2-free. EDF's transmission and distribution subsidiaries in France operate 1,285,000 km of low and medium voltage overhead and underground electricity lines and around 100,000 km of high and very high voltage networks. The Group is involved in supplying energy and services to more than 38 million customers around the world, including more than 28 million in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of €66.3 billion in 2009, of which 49% in Europe excluding France. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.

Schneider Electric
As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation, and data centres/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, and efficient, the company's 100,000+ employees achieved sales of more than 15.8 billion euros in 2009, through an active commitment to help individuals and organisations make the most of their energy.
www.schneider-electric.com

Better Place
Better Place, the leading electric vehicle services provider, is accelerating the global transition to sustainable transportation. Better Place is building the infrastructure and intelligent network to deliver a range of services to drivers, enable widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and optimize energy use. The Better Place network addresses historical limitations to adoption by providing unlimited driving range in a convenient and accessible manner. The company works with all parts of the transportation ecosystem, including automakers, battery suppliers, energy companies, and the public sector, to create a compelling solution. Based in California and privately held, Better Place has operating companies in Israel, Denmark, and Australia. More information is available at http://www.betterplace.com

EPAMSA
EPAMSA, the Contracting Authority for Seine Aval (the Seine downriver of Paris), is responsible for the coordination of the Seine Aval "Operation of National Interest" ("ONI"). This ONI mobilizes the French State, the Regional Council of the Ile-de-France, the General Council of the Yvelines, the 51 communes and the 5 intercommunalities of the Seine Aval region. This territory to the west of Paris offers a rare, indeed unique, mix of town and country, serving as the perfect economic and residential backdrop to the business district of La Défense, within half an hour's traveling distance.
The key challenges of the project are as follows:
• Economic development and a 20% increase in employment rates
• Housing, with the objective of 2,500 new homes per year
• Improving the transport network
• Enhancing the environment
EPAMSA is also in charge of coordinating the urban renewal programs for Chanteloup-les-Vignes and the Mantois region.


Yvelines
Les Yvelines, an integral part of the future Greater Paris, is and intends to remain France's number one department for the automotive industry, with over 45,000 jobs linked to the industry in over 200 companies, including Renault-Nissan and PSA Peugeot Citroën. The creation of the Vallée de l’Automobile et de la Mobilité Durable ("Valley of the Automobile and of Sustainable Mobility") in the Val de Seine, around Flins, the Moveo’Tec business cluster at Versailles-Satory and the industrial zones in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and Vélizy-Villacoublay, where the largest centers of automotive Research & Development in France are located, are all telling advantages when it comes to facilitating the inevitable transition to the cleaner, more economical, smarter, more connected and more functional vehicle of the future.