CEO Luca de Meo: ‘Ampere is flourishing’

One year after its creation, Renault’s electric subsidiary Ampere seems to flourish. Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo said this in a press gathering last week in Douai at one of the manufacturer’s ‘Electricity’ plants in France.

According to the CEO, Ampere was the right decision to respond to the energy transition and for Renault to catch up with the electrification of its portfolio. The ambitions are sky high: to be at the same level as the Chinese competition as soon as possible.

Ampere gathers all the group’s electric activities. We’re talking about EV-specialized assembly plants, battery manufacturing, and conceiving its own software.

40% cost reduction

Ampere wants to reduce costs by 40% before 2028, a primal condition for manufacturing affordable EVs. de Meo hopes to realize half of this ambitious target by 2026. That’s why it will also use cheaper LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries.

The press release for the first birthday also mentions that LFP battery technology has been successfully integrated into the vehicles within 18 months. It is also confirmed that the LFP batteries will be based on cell-to-pack technology; the step to cell-to-chassis is currently under development. The small Renault Twingo EV is considered a candidate for the use of LFP batteries from 2026.

The speed of development and production is also a key factor. Renault’s sub-€20,000 EV, the Twingo, will be on the market in 2026 after only two years of development. And in Douai, where the electric Mégane and Scénic are already assembled, Renault hopes to put an R5 electric together in less than 10 hours.

Ampere doesn’t hide that it is learning from the Chinese to reach these goals. It has an Advanced China Development Center (ACDC) in Shanghai, where 150 engineers and technicians study the best and most efficient EV manufacturing technologies and what they can learn from the Chinese.

Alliance revives

Luca de Meo was also proud to announce that Alliance partner Nissan has asked Ampere for support in developing its next A-segment electric car following an initial successful technical collaboration in the B-segment, the Micra successor with the technology of the Renault 5.

The Renault model under development for this is the already mentioned Twingo, the concept of which was exhibited for the first time a few weeks ago at the Paris Motor Show.

Nissan is not currently represented in Europe’s A or B segment (regardless of the drive type). The smallest model is currently the Juke crossover. With the offshoots of the Renault models Twingo for the A-segment and Renault 5 for the B-segment, Nissan will, therefore, serve these two size classes purely electrically.

The adaptation of the Renault models is also in line with the agreement on the realignment of the Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi manufacturer Alliance, which was finalized at the beginning of 2023. According to this agreement, regional developments will not be driven forward in parallel, but one brand will take the lead (Renault in Europe), and the other alliance partners will be able to capitalize on this.

As reported, Nissan is also working closer with its Japanese competitor Honda and its Alliance partner Mitsubishi on the global development of electric cars.

Open to others

The second Nissan order is very important for Ampere. The company, which was spun off a year ago, wants to act as a Renault subsidiary and a “tech platform for major brands.”

This also officially includes Alpine, even though it is a prominent brand but a relatively small manufacturer within the Renault Group. The upcoming Alpine A390, for which the concept was presented in October, also incorporates Ampere technology.