Orange has placed an order for 200 electric vehicles from Renault-Nissan Alliance.
The vehicles, which will be used primarily for car-sharing purposes, are to be delivered to Orange’s France division by 2015.
A combination of Renault Zoe, Renault Kangoo Z.E., Nissan Leaf, and Nissan e-NV200 vehicles will comprise the fleet.
“We believe that the use of electric vehicles needs to be encouraged, both professionally and privately,” said Hélène Billon, facilities and mobility management director at Orange.
“Therefore, this agreement with the Renault-Nissan Alliance contributes to helping us meet our commitment to a 20% reduction in our CO2 footprint by 2020. By that time, we hope to continue the acquisition of more than 1,000 electric vehicles, notably to account for about one third of our car-sharing fleet in France,” she added.
Orange currently has around 2,000 pool vehicles in France, approximately 100 of which are used for car-sharing purposes. Orange employees are able to reserve these vehicles online, for either professional or personal purposes.
As part of the deal, Renault-Nissan will assist Orange with the installation of a network of charging stations at sites that support the car-sharing initiative. The electric vehicles procurement agreement is taking place within the context of a wider international partnership between the two companies.
“Thanks to the partnership between Renault and Nissan, the Alliance is able to provide Orange with the widest range of electric vehicles to meet its demands – from subcompact passenger cars to light commercial vehicles (LCVs),” said Christian Mardrus, executive vice president of Renault-Nissan.
“More Orange employees will soon be able to enjoy the many benefits of electric mobility: zero noise, smooth handling and acceleration, and zero tailpipe emissions. And the vehicles can be fully recharged with renewable energy at night, so they can be 100% charged every morning,” he concluded.
