The official statement from Renault is as brief as possible and it’s no surprise as many European and US car buyers decide to shun EV cars. Hoping to launch a share offer in Ampere was always high risk. But after a year of mystery car park fires, electric bus fires and battery fires elsewhere, many diesel and petrol car owners are reluctant to buy into the tech until safety can be guaranteed. The other issue is range, still hovering around 250-300 miles in bad weather for many EVs, plus the high costs of insuring them.
For sure, fleets will still buy battery cars and vans. Due to political pressure from activists many in the public sector will have no choice, it will be pure EV or nothing. Maybe a cargo bike. But fleet sales to Councils, enforcement agencies, the NHS or EU funded quangos isn’t enough to keep 11,000 workers in employment at the Renault-Nissan venture long term.
Maybe the CEO of Toyota is right when he says that pure battery cars will never account for more than one third of the global market, who knows?
Here’s the word from Renault France;
Renault Group has created Ampere, the only European EV and software pure player, with one goal: democratize EV in Europe faster than EV pure players.
Since the inception, Renault Group’s strategic approach has been to build Ampere as a separate business with a dedicated team on EV and software to ensure higher competitiveness, agility and innovation. Since November 1st, 2023, Ampere is operated as an autonomous business, and the Group measures the operational and industrial benefits of this organization on a daily basis.
In 2022, Renault Group had announced its intention to proceed with an IPO (initial public offering) for this entity. The latest calendar referred to the 1st half of 2024, depending on market conditions. Renault Group considers that the current equity market conditions are not met to optimally pursue the IPO process in the best interests of Renault Group, its shareholders and Ampere.
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