Renault SA (EPA:RNO)
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Apr 27, 2026, 5:35 PM CET
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Investor Update

Jun 30, 2021

Speaker 1

Hello and welcome to Renault Eaways. Thanks for connecting. My name is Henry Samuel and I'm delighted to be your host today for a session in which we'll discover Renault Group's E Tech Hits, its top assets and technologies in terms of electric vehicles. So over the next hour, the Renault teams will present each of these greatest hits in detail. But first to introduce the session, I'm pleased to welcome Renault Group's CEO, Luca DeMeo.

Speaker 2

Hello there, Luca. Hi, Harry. How are you?

Speaker 1

Just before I leave you the floor, a couple of questions. I know one that's been in the news this week everywhere is that French President Macron visited the Renault site in Douay in Northern France on Monday. How did that go?

Speaker 2

That was a great event. I think that everybody and the President, especially, was impressed by the level of competence, experience and also the level of technology that Renault has when it comes to electric vehicles. And it was the first visit of a French President on the site since 40 years. So it was a big event for everybody. And yes, this project gives a lot of hope to the people, to the region, to the country.

So it was good to see.

Speaker 1

Historic moment. One other thing, very cool set here. What's the thinking behind that? We're going

Speaker 2

to talk about electric cars. We're going to talk about how to make electric cars popular. So electric popular, electro pop. And you see the inspiration from some of the music shows we used to look at watch out on TV when we were kids. So that's the inspiration, and I think it's very cool.

Speaker 1

Electropop, I like it. Luka, over

Speaker 3

to you.

Speaker 2

Thank you. So today sets an important milestone for us at Renault and I would say also for the Made in Europe. And beyond the symbol, it is, I think, a strategic choice with a taste for challenge. We're creating a compact, efficient, high-tech ecosystem. It begins with the story of electricity.

We are talking about 3 plants in the north of France, which we will bring together to become one of the biggest and most competitive electric manufacturing facilities in Europe. Well, up to that, a battery factory with a capacity of up to 24 gigas. By the end of 2024, this industrial ecosystem will create 700 additional permanent jobs, employ a total of more than 5,000 people and produce more than 400,000 electric vehicles. We will connect the electricity to our mega factory in Cleon, potentially delivering 1,000,000 E Tech engines for hybrid and pure electric vehicle early. Our Clione plant will be the symbol, I think, of a successful transition from the era of combustion engines to the electric modules.

It will require the upskilling and rescaling of more than 1300 people. And to complete the loop, batteries will then be repurposed and recycled in the refactoring flaring. With our partners, Veolia and Solve, up to 80% of the strategic minerals recycled from our end of life batteries will be reused in new ones. So this resource conscious short loop system contributes to sheltering us from the unreliability of the global supply chain. So all in all, we aim at achieving the greenest mix in Europe for the Renault brand.

We are preparing to reach up to 90% pure electric vehicle sales in 2,030. Group wide, by 2,030, again, we're very confident we'll be way above the CAFE regulation, including under stricter limits than the current ones. We have worked a lot in the past year. We have created the conditions for our competitiveness in Europe, including in France. So how did we pull it off?

First, we've been doing it for a decade now. Electrification at Renault is a continuum, is not a complete shift. Since 2009, we have invested over €5,000,000,000 in electrification and plan to invest €10,000,000,000 more in the next 5 years without counting our alliance partners. We have, of course, gone through the negative profit years, but we have the technology, including the components, the platforms, the experience and the savoir faire. When classic powertrains are becoming less and less competitive due to stricter regulations, we have divided the cost of batteries by 2 in the past 10 years, and we'll divide it by 2 again in the next decade.

On top of return on investment, 10 years of experience also means lessons learned, that data collected and, of course, performance improved. We have just crossed the threshold of 10,000,000,000 kilometers traveled by 400,000 Renault EVs. Our 6 electric vehicles were built on 7 generation of platforms, multi energy and EV native, and you'll see 2 of them today. 3 generation of batteries have been powering our EVs since the beginning, all of them safe with in house Renault innovation guaranteeing no leaking. We monitor over 320,000 electric vehicles in real time and collected over 300 terabytes of data just in the past 12 months.

That's the largest battery data set available to any OEM in Europe today. Our experience also means smart allocation of resources. We know what we are doing. When it came to selecting our battery chemistry or choose whether our platform would be multi energy or native, we have no doubt. We went for pure EV native.

We know it's more efficient and the best choice to deliver on our customer expectations. Take, for example, our e powertrains. We are the 1st OEM to have developed its own e motor, no magnets, no real earth, based on electrically excited synchronous motor technology. It combines power and sustainability. Beyond ZOE, we'll keep improving our efficiency, thanks to smart, innovative technology such as Axial Flux.

We're quite proud to be the 1st OEM to announce the introduction of this technology right after Ferrari with its SF90 Stradale. And same goes for the platforms. By 2025, we'll produce over 1,000,000 electric vehicles every year within the alliance on just 2 of them. 1 is entirely dedicated to our higher end and sport EV vehicles, and one is made for our affordable compact vehicles with a super cost competitive battery and a high level of carryover from other models. And we'll extend our value chain control by introducing our own power electronics partnering with leading edge European expert, ST Micro Electronics.

Leveraging their know how in semiconductors and power electronic systems, we'll work together to integrate their products and packaging solutions in our battery operated and hybrid vehicles. This technology mean lower battery cost, more kilometers per charge, shorter charging times and reduced user cost. Concretely, they will contribute to reduce waste of energy by 45% and cost by 30% at e powertrain level. Our battery strategy showcases this combination of experience, control of the value chain and smart allocation of resources. 1st is about experience.

Through time, we have developed in house battery expertise from cell to pack. We have our own cell validation plan, develop our own battery management system and connection box. We are among the very, very few volume OEMs to do so. It allows us to get the very best out of our batteries and to prepare for the next step, the highly cost efficient wireless battery management system. We master the entire value chain, including the battery life cycle.

We are one leap ahead when it comes to recycling and creating short loops from battery minerals to copper from our e powertrains. We have a structure dedicated to our recycling activities called Renault and Virendement. We have an industrial site dedicated to scale it up. We call it the refactory in Flen. Our business unit, Mobilize, will leverage it all and generate revenues around Energy Services.

Our only missing part was so far cell chemistry, and we'll show you today we have a plan to get there. We've also made bold standardization choices within the alliance to unleash competitiveness. Just by relying on the nickel, manganese and cobalt chemistry and one unique cell footprint will cover 100% of our launches across all segments for Renault Group on a yearly basis. At cell level, we offer 2 thicknesses. That way, our batteries will be either affordable for human and compact vehicles or highly performant for our higher end or sporty models.

By 2,030, we'll drive our cost down by 60% at pack level. We'll reach below $100 per kilowatt hour in 2025, and we plan to be below the $80 per kilowatt hour while preparing the arrival of all solid state battery technology by 2,030. For our customer, this chemistry choice delivers a very competitive ratio of cost per kilometer with up to 20% more autonomy compared to LFP solutions and a much better recycling performance. When we do not go in house, we partner up to secure both capacity and value generation. We are securing the production of 1,000,000 electric vehicles by 2,030 made in Europe from battery sourcing to vehicle assembly.

Our historical and strategic partnership with LG Chemical goes on and will provide the battery for our upcoming Megane. 2 partners will be joining to ramp up our production. Envision AESC will provide us with an efficient affordable solution for our CMF BEV vehicles, starting with Renault 5. This battery will be assembled in France with a carbon footprint reduction of up to 35% compared to the current ones, which are equipping the ZOE. As for our high performance batteries, we are investing with a partner, Verkor, specialized in low carbon battery cell production.

We'll jointly develop and produce battery cells and module prototypes in an innovation center, which we'll be building in France next year. By 2026, we aim at manufacturing high performance batteries in a best in class Gigafactory targeting 10 Gigawatt for Renault Group. So optimal decisions for product design, efficient production, setup and EV lifecycle management, smart partnerships will lead the energy transition and make electric cars very, very popular. That's why we named the whole event Electropop. In the '90s, electro music emerged on the global scene, and French iconic bands gave the French touch to the scene.

Democratization is there are no touch to electrification. We bet on iconic design and aim at the top of the charts. ZOE, R5 and more models to come are designed to hit the core of the market. That's where they can make, we believe, a true difference and have a positive impact. And we make them in electricity at the heart of Europe, true to our roots, creating value for us and our stakeholders.

That's the way our music goes. So stay tuned. I will now pass on to our top people, our top experts. They will go deep into what we intend to do, how far we'll go on the value chain. And now I will hand it over to my friend, Harry.

Speaker 1

Thank you very much indeed, Luca. And of course, we'll be seeing you just a little later on. But for now, on this electro pop theme, as promised, we're going to dive deeper into these E Tech greatest hits that are really at the heart of Renault's EV strategy. And we're going to start with our very first E Tech hit and that is batteries. Hello and welcome, Gilles.

Speaker 4

Hello, Henry.

Speaker 1

So, when it comes to electric vehicles, obviously batteries take center stage. So what are the main challenges today facing Renault in this area?

Speaker 4

Well, in an electric vehicle, batteries represent 40% of the total cost, e motor 10%, platform 20% and 30% for the rest of the car. So controlling the cost of the batteries is therefore paramount to developing affordable battery electric vehicles, but of course, we have no compromise on quality, performances and safety. Thus, as Luca said previously, Renault is committed to working closely with its partners with a co development approach. This enables us to control our costs and performances throughout the value chain.

Speaker 1

Tell us about some of your targets.

Speaker 4

Well, we are working to be the 1st to cross the line between ICE and BEV. As we did with our current EV lineup over the last 10 years, we are aiming to halve the battery cost again within the next 10 years. And we target to double the energy density at sales level at the same time.

Speaker 1

Sounds very ambitious, Gilles. Now we're going to stay with batteries and dive even deeper into this crucial issue, if you will. And for that, I'm going to hand over now to Sophie Schmitlin.

Speaker 5

Hello. Having produced and sold almost 400,000 EVs in 10 years and more than 1,000,000 including Nissan, Renault has a unique experience in battery technology and in related customer behavior and requirements. Based on this strong knowledge, we have chosen to focus on the NMC cathode for upcoming lithium ion battery developments. So why does Renault consider that NMC is the best choice for the coming years? Because NMC features better electromechanical properties compared to other technologies.

It offers the best customer benefits and the best cost performance ratio for the entire Renault lineup, including the A and B segments. Better range on the WLTP cycle, better performance at low temperatures, better aging over lifetime and an improved economic value during recycling due to the intrinsic residual value of nickel, manganese and cobalt. Based on this choice for the cathode, Renault will follow 2 NMC based chemistry development paths in parallel, an affordable path optimized for adequate range at the lowest possible cost for the A and B segments and a performance oriented path with an increased energy density for long range and fast charging application for the sea and sporty segments. For the affordable chemistry, Renault will take a big step forward starting from 2024 on the new Renault 5 By offering an optimized solution using high voltage cells and a robust design, we will give the R5 an EV range of about 400 kilometer on the WLTP cycle with a competitive cost below $85 per kilowatt hour at module level. The performance oriented chemistry on the other side is suited for long range and fast charging applications.

What we call the Gen 1 performance will make its debut on the all new Megane next year, allowing a range of at least 450 kilometer WSTP in its 60 kilowatt hour version. Then by 2024, we will introduce an evolution of this technology, which we call Gen 2 Performance. It will be featured on our sports cars application, reaching a 700 watt hour liter energy density at cell level and ensuring fast charging capabilities. And from 2026, in order to further reduce charging times for a typical 15% to 80% charge from 20, 25 minutes down to 12 minutes, Renault is targeting a charging rate higher than 4 c at usable battery sizes with high energy density. If we now go beyond the medium term, ultimately, the target is to develop the all solid state battery technology, which appears to be the real game changer from both the performance and cost point of view, opening the way towards many technology breakthrough not only at the material and cell level, but also at the vehicle level.

ISSB cells are a game changer for battery technology as the solvent based liquid electrolyte is replaced by a non flammable solid electrolyte. And ASSB chemistry is compatible with high temperatures, thus bringing among other advantages that of not requiring a high performance cooling system. I will now leave the floor to Philippe, who is going to talk about battery system.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Sophie. Hello, everyone. From an investment viewpoint, the implementation of our cell chemistry strategy requires a firm control of the product diversity. As Luca pointed out in his introduction, Renault has decided to follow the following street guides: 2 NMC based chemistry development pass, 1 unique cell footprint, 2 modules, 1 pack per platform. This standardization initiative will be effective from 2024, and the rollout to our European DEV lineup will be 100% completed by 2028.

This will cover both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. In order to maximize our cost performance, the Alliance will use from 2024 the same affordable chemistry, same cell footprint and same modules. As a consequence, the Alliance will produce more than 1,000,000 vehicle per year with standardized battery by 2,030. Let's talk now about the battery pack. At Renault, the battery pack is vertically integrated and our R and D drive the specification from cell to pack.

More specifically, in the case of cells, we work hand in hand with our supplier. Thanks to joint development activities with them, we achieved the best balance between performance, cost and safety. But we aim to go further. From 2022, Renault will take one more step in the integration of battery cell development. Indeed, we will start a co development, thanks to new partnerships as announced by LUCA.

And on top of sales, we will improve our battery pack performance gradually from 2024. 1st, by updating our battery management system, the EV range will be increased, thanks to a new generation of algorithm and software, fully ASIL D compliant to ensure the best level of safety. 2nd, by integrating functions such as cooling into the pack and introducing a wireless BMS, the cost of the pack will decrease, thanks to less parts. To sum up, our target is to achieve less than $20 per kilowatt hour in 2024 for the battery pack itself, including all functions for the best level battery performance. Thank you very much.

Speaker 1

And thank you, Philippe, and thanks also to Sophie. So Gilles, all of this is going to help reach your goals in terms of reducing costs for batteries. So what precisely are your targets today?

Speaker 4

Well, Renault's chemistry roadmap and innovative pack design will enable us to reduce cost of battery packs to around US100 dollars per kilowattere by 2024 and less than US80 dollars per kilowattere by 2,030. On top of that, we are already working on the introduction of the next generation of ceramic based solid state batteries. This will enable us to drastically improve performances and cost compared to the current situation.

Speaker 1

And I imagine that chemistry is not the only lever you have to increase efficiency and reduce costs?

Speaker 4

No, of course, you're right. Thanks to our battery management system with proprietary advanced aging algorithm, our batteries will remain powerful more than 70% of state of health throughout the entire life of the car. And as explained by Philippe, we also have a lot of opportunities of cost reduction regarding the pack design.

Speaker 1

So lots of exciting things going on in batteries. Stay with this year because we are now going to move on to our second e tech hit and that is powertrains. So Gilles, what is at stake today in terms of e powertrains?

Speaker 4

Powertrain represents 10% of the cost of battery electric vehicle. To increase range and affordability, we can rely on our 10 years experience to continue to improve our efficiency in this area. As of today, we have already reduced the cost between 1st generation ZOE back in 2013 and the new Megane by 20%, and that's only the beginning. So what are your key focus areas today? In terms of powertrain efficiency, we have 3 areas of focus.

First, we will keep on relying on electrically excited synchronous motor, complex name, isn't it, for EESM. This is a very efficient e motor technology that doesn't require rare earth magnets. We are not starting from scratch. Indeed, Renault has today a lot of experience in the EESM as we were the 1st to use this technology. And since we are right because competitors are now following us.

2nd, Renault is working on an innovative, compact and smart concept of power electronics. Philippe Brunet will give you more explanation in a few minutes. Lastly, Renault's future BEV will integrate in one single package no less than the e motor, the reducer, the charger, the DCDC and the inverter.

Speaker 1

Okay. We're going to have a look now at the action plan to get there. And as you mentioned, we're going to go back to Philippe Brunet.

Speaker 3

Hello again. Our first focus area is the e motor and the reducer. The electrically excited synchronous motor, so called ESM, has several advantages. First, it is free of rare earth materials. 2nd, it is the most efficient technology for mid load and highway driving condition, particularly suitable for the European market.

3rd, it is an efficient and cost oriented solution to optimize the energy consumption of 4x4 bev application. Our next generation of ESN motors will gradually embed new Technobricks from 2024 like stator airpin, glued motor stack, brushless and hollow rotor shaft still pushing for a better efficiency and a lower cost. And on top of these new technologies, Renault Group is working on a very innovative axial flow e motor developed with a French startup, WILOT. Thanks to its investment, Renault Group has the exclusivity rights for automotive application. We should be the 1st OEM to produce on a large scale the axial flow e motor from 2025.

We'll start by our hybrids, HEV and PHEV. Cost is expected to be reduced by 5% and up to 2.5 grams CO2 on WLTP would be saved for a HEV DC segment passenger car. Then the extension to BEVs is also under consideration. Our second focus area is power electronics, which includes inverter, DCDC and onboard charger. This is top priority to us since this system represents the 2 third of the total e powertrain cost.

Several levels will enable us to improve our competitiveness. The integration of inverter, DCDC and onboard charger into 1 unique box produced within Renault Group is one of them: a more compact design, 800 volt compliant, less parts to optimize the cost. Finally, we aim to use this 1 bond concept across platforms and powertrain types, BEV, HEV and PHEV, to gain further scale effects. And with the 1 box project, we'll introduce a new generation of power module fitting our needs, so called wide band gap with silicon carbide for inverter and gallium nitride for DCDC and onboard charger. This will be made possible thanks to a strategic partnership with STMicroelectronics, securing upscale production for cost competitiveness as well as capacity supply.

Let's now move to the 3rd focus area, the all in one system. Thanks to all previous innovation, optimized design and extended control of the value chain, Renault Group will introduce by 2025, 2026 an innovative all in one system. It will include the e motor, the reducer and the 1 box concept power electronics. As summary, this all in one system will offer compared to today basis: 1st, a more compact design, reducing by 45% the volume of the e powertrain, reallocating to the vehicle cabin the equivalent volume of a KEO fuel tank. 2nd, a less expensive system reducing by 30% the cost of the overall powertrain, this saving being equivalent to the cost of the e motor and third, a more efficient system reducing by 45% the e powertrain wasted energy on WLTP, allowing to extend the EV range by 20 kilometers.

Speaker 1

Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Philippe, Peugeot, Regile. Again, this is all very ambitious. My question to you is how are you going to work to achieve this in terms of manufacturing?

Speaker 4

Well, to face the challenges of the production of e motor and reducer, Renault has already invested to further increase the production output. Therefore, Renault will extend the production of e powertrain in its Clayon, Ritz and Seville plants. Moreover, we will industrialize the large scale production of axial flux motor with next generation of HEV E Tech. To do so, we will convert our combustion engine plants into e motor plants. Simultaneous design and process development will reduce our investment to a level of around €50,000,000 making up to 500,000 units per year.

It will also increase process flexibility to adjust to the market's needs. And of

Speaker 1

course, you'll need a very solid network of partners and suppliers for that.

Speaker 4

You're right. Vertical integration and partnerships are the 2nd lever to increase range and affordability for our electric vehicles. As shown by Philippe, Renault will integrate power electronics particularly by developing advanced electronics competencies. On top of that, we will also internalize the assembly of power electronics components. As a matter of fact, mastering the power electronic value chain, thanks to our partnership with ST Microelectronic is our strategic decision.

Speaker 1

So thank you, Gilles. It's clear that you're obviously building on your know how and experience and preparing for the next generation. And of course, on the industrial side, keeping a step ahead of the rest. Now we're going to continue, stay with me once again for our next e take hit and that is platforms. So Gilles, if I'm not mistaken, all of the technological building blocks that we've been talking about can be found in your platforms.

And here again, you have some exciting new things to tell us. So go ahead. Well, today, we are capitalizing on our 10 years of EV experience, in particular with Doei and Kongu to launch the 2 new EV platforms. They are state of

Speaker 4

the art in terms of both performances and cost efficiency. What about their characteristics? These two platforms will enable the Allianz to respond customers' needs on major segments. For the CD segment, CMF EV platform will offer enhanced EV driving pleasure with unparalleled performances. New Megan is based on this platform.

In terms of volume, it will represent 700 1,000 units at the Allianz level by 2025. For the B segment, CMF BEV platform will offer the best performance to price ratio, thanks to the big volumes of the CMF BE platform, more than 3,000,000 cars yearly at the Allianz level. CMF BEV will be the platform of the new Renault 5. On top of that, our new platforms integrate our latest software, the Electric Route Planner and Contextual Adaptive Cruise Control for better efficiency.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Gilles. Now to explain in more detail the benefits of each of these platforms, I'm now going to hand over to Laurence Excoffon.

Speaker 6

Hello.

Speaker 7

Let's focus first on the benefit of CMF EV platform. The first benefit of this platform is the range. Indeed, the CMF EV platform offer a range up to 580 kilometers in WLTP with a very low energy consumption. We can offer this performance, thanks to a reduction of friction from braking, bearing and tire rolling resistance, weight reduction, we achieved about 100 kilogram less than the closest competitor and a specific energy management so called energy recovery system. This system is transferring battery calorie to the cockpit and reduce electric heating consumption for cabin comfort.

Combined with the heat pump and the thermal insulation of the battery, the range increased by 5% in cold condition. As an example, thanks to this extended range, the Megane will be an iconic trip at Paris Lyon, 470 kilometer, with only one quick stop of 30 minutes, comparable to ICE Journey. The second benefit of TMF EV platform is a great driving pleasure. Our smart packaging improved roominess and strong volume. It also provides great ergonomics with comfortable sitting position and good rear leg room.

All the powertrain elements are put on the front of the car, removing all crossing cable from the rear to the front. This creates more space and reduce weight and cost. Heating ventilation and air conditioning is also located in the engine bay, creating a thinner dashboard and giving more volume in the cabin. The battery pack, the thinnest of the market, enable a greater roominess. An outstanding smart cocoon effect reduced the perceived noise by 50% compared to the current generation.

This result is obtained by putting a patenting foam insulation locating between the battery and the floor creating an extra soundproofing. The driving pleasure is also enhanced by superior vehicle dynamic setting for confidence rights such as lower center of gravity and an ideal weight distribution due to battery location, a very low steering ratio that brings a quick vehicle response, a better maneuverability and a good agility and a multi link suspension on the rear, ensuring a stable vehicle and a precise steering. Let's now see what are the benefits of CMF B EV platform. The first benefit of CMF B EV is its affordability. This is the first platform that will make best vehicle affordable for everyone.

The CMF V EV will allow to reduce the cost of our vehicle by 1 third compared to the current generation of ZOE. We achieved that, thanks to the interchangeability of the battery module and mutualization among the platform, a rightsized powertrain offering 100 kilowatt performance at lower cost and all non EV component are carried over from CMF B platform and its 3,000,000 vehicle a year by 2025. The CMF BEV will be affordable without sacrificing customer performance. The platform will offer up to 400 kilometer range in WFTP and will focus on added value innovations such as acoustic, driving behavior and plug and charge. The second benefit of CMF BEV is its modularity.

This platform is built to be modular. We can adjust track, tire diameter and wheelbase. And so we can adjust different top hat with different styling, including some iconic design. Thank you very much for your attention.

Speaker 1

Thank you very much, Laurence. Gil, it seems that in terms of platforms, Renault can rely on some very solid assets there.

Speaker 4

Yes, you're right. As you saw, we have 2 delegated EV platforms enabling us to cover from B to D segments. These platforms will set the new reference for the group's new generation of electric vehicles. We went through the Renault Technologies roadmaps toward affordable, efficient and safe battery electric vehicles. For all these technologies, battery, e motor, power electronics and platform, we have state of the art technologies mostly shared within the alliance, full setup of partnerships with top players and clear development plan within the Revolution strategic plan.

In one word, we are ready.

Speaker 1

Thank you very much indeed, Gilles, for all of your observations. So we've looked at batteries, powertrains, platforms, 3 areas in which Renault is forging ahead to maintain its leadership. And now we're going to take a look at how all this is organized from an industrial point of view, and that is the subject of our next E Tech hit, which is Renault Electricity.

Speaker 3

Welcome gentlemen. Do take a seat. Good morning. Morning.

Speaker 1

So, Jose Vicente and Luciano, thank you very much for joining us. Now as Luca de Maio announced, with this creation of Renault Electric City, you are really preparing the ground for the next generation of the automotive industry, Jose Vicente?

Speaker 8

You are right, Henry. The manufacturing teams made a great job. We are very proud of them. This new entity for the moment will be 3 Renault plants in the north of France, Douay, Moebes and Ritz, as well as a strong ecosystem of supplier facilities. It will be very close to the Gigafactory of our partner, Envision, AFC, Indue.

Renault Electricity will be the largest production center dedicated to the EV in Europe. This industrial integrating supplier, startups and academics enhances the world sector.

Speaker 1

Jose Vicente, can you tell us why Renault Group decided to concentrate its EV manufacturing here in France?

Speaker 8

Well, because it's in the heart of European EV demand. France, the U. K, Germany, Italy and Spain will represent the 2 thirds of EV demand in Europe in 2025. By offering Madame France cars, Renault electricity become the biggest industrial project in France, 100% in the spirit of the European Green Deal.

Speaker 1

Now Luciano, I'll bring you in here. For you, what are the main benefits

Speaker 9

of this new entity? This single entity enabled Renault Groups to make these 3 plants the most competitive and efficient production unit for electric vehicle in ARP, with 400,000 vehicle produced per year by 2025. We have created the condition for competitiveness, and this allow us to produce in France at better cost compared to emerging countries.

Speaker 1

How exactly is this ecosystem going

Speaker 9

to improve competitiveness? Our objective is to downsize the production cost to 3% of the value of the Equinor. How? By strengthening manufacturing quality, thanks to better skilled workforce, by ensuring continuous improvement for all employees during their work in time and by implementing just in time process in the work organization. On top of that, we'll optimize fixed cost, thanks to: mutualized resources with

Speaker 2

the battery

Speaker 9

plant, utilities, security, waste management, maintenance, expertise, training for wall ecosystem, site footprint decrease, minus 40% in DUE plant, Shared data and use cases notably to boost EV services, developing in close solution with universities, territories, start up partner. In the end, we will produce a profitable B segment in France, achieving a best in class manufacturing KPI.

Speaker 1

Josef, it's entered. If we could sum up, manufacturing seems to be the key asset here to tackle this challenge of producing BEVs in France.

Speaker 8

You are right. Industrial efficiency is key to the competitiveness. To achieve this, what we need? 1st, we need continue our road map to digitalization through Factory Point Zero. We need to continue to develop the skill of our people.

At the same time, we need to continue remain business oriented.

Speaker 1

Well, with such a large scale industrial project and a made in France offer, that's obviously going to be good news for the economic dynamic of the country. Thank you very much indeed Jose Vicente and Luciano for joining us. Now it is time to move on to our next e tech hit and that is battery life cycle. You very much for joining us. You are Head of Renault's new Mobilize brand, which promotes sustainable mobility solutions.

So of course, batteries and the issue of battery recycling very important to you. Can you tell us about that?

Speaker 6

Yes. OEMs are responsible for the recycling of the batteries they put on the market. What has to be underlined is that Renault Group goes far beyond regulation. The group has been working on issue for 10 years in order to limit the environmental impact of its EVs, preserve natural resources and contribute to the energy transition. We have a fleet of 400,000 electric vehicles and we are starting to get the first batteries back for recycling.

The lifetime of our batteries is higher than previously anticipated. And once they are no longer good enough for the vehicles, they can be reused as a second time and can also extract value at the end of life. Thanks to our very good knowledge of batteries, we found out that we could create value throughout its whole life cycle.

Speaker 1

So in concrete terms, how can this EV battery life cycle management actually bring down costs and create a viable business today?

Speaker 6

Well, to capture this value and offset part of the recycling cost, we have organized ourselves. The group deploys a full range of solution along the battery life cycle and is going further on recycling.

Speaker 1

Okay. If you will, let's have a look at the solutions starting with a battery's first life.

Speaker 6

Through Mobilize, Renault Group's solution for vehicle to grid also called V2G will allow EV drivers to offset part of their annual leasing recurrent profits related to car fleets. Greed operators have a growing need for power storage solution to balance load at all times. Vehicle to grid solution are one of the most adequate solutions to meet this need.

Speaker 1

Could you just remind me and the viewers what V2 gs means?

Speaker 6

Well, this technology enables energy to be pushed back to the power grid from the battery of an electric car. With vehicle to grid technology, a car battery can be charged and discharged based on different signals such as the amount of energy production or consumption nearby. The car becomes a power generator.

Speaker 1

And what do the energy companies think about this? And what's their role there?

Speaker 6

Energy companies are therefore very interested in these services brought by car batteries, which are able to inject electricity to help stabilize the grid. Can you imagine, for example, a car connected 8 hours per day could generate a value potentially up to €400 per year through vehicle to grid?

Speaker 1

That's a lot. Today, where are we? What have we actually achieved so far on V2 gs?

Speaker 6

Renault has already assembled all required skills to offer V2G services. In Europe, Renault has developed and promotes a solution for bidirectional AC charging that is less costly than a DC solution. Renault has already deployed all bricks required to operate and integrate V2G service in Europe, grid connection abilities with demonstrators in the Netherlands, Portugal and France, aggregation and monetization know how with contracts with energy traders. Renault has also offers an app for smart charging and peak sharing to be expanded with further application for V2G. We will reach large scale from 2024 when we will launch Murono 5.

Speaker 1

Now you've meant that's the battery's first life, but actually batteries also have a second life. So tell us about that.

Speaker 6

After their first life, batteries may still contain more or less 2 third of their capacity. Renault through Mobilize is finding them new application around stationary storage to manage functional power need, mobile electricity storage or generators for use in other industries.

Speaker 1

And so how is Renault shaping this second life market today?

Speaker 6

Renault is pioneering this market and has defined a unique industrial setup to lead this market in Europe. First, the group relies on its dealer network for collecting used batteries. 2nd, as Renault is an expert with 10 years of EV experience, we appraise their fair value of batteries and optimize second life usage, thanks to real time technical monitoring and knowledge of second life application. As a matter of fact, thanks to an industrial tool with maturity well above others, the group has the ability to refurbish batteries at competitive prices and will repackage the upcoming 250,000 units of ZOE batteries leased by Renault so far.

Speaker 1

And how are you going to promote all of this to the market?

Speaker 6

Renault, again through Mobilize, we'll collaborate with car rating agencies, for example, Largus to broadly communicate the residual value of batteries, so that it can be taken into account in the used car market transaction for a value up to €500 per car. This will contribute to lowering yearly leasing costs for new cars by up to 1%. As we have strong relationship with owners of vehicles, we will be able to offer health certificate for state of health monitoring, battery warranty expansion contracts and trading offers made possible by the connected vehicles to reassure owners of secondhand electric vehicles.

Speaker 1

So we've mentioned 1st life and battery second life. Obviously, eventually it comes to the end of its life and needs to be recycled. So what are you planning there?

Speaker 6

Renault Group already benefits from a robust know how in easy battery collection and recycling. We capitalize on our subsidiary, Indra, and our partnership with Zeolia on lithium ion battery recycling. We have already recycled 75 megawatt hour cumulated of batteries, half of which in 2020 only. Going even further, the group is deploying a new dismantling facility through its refactory project in Slan. The highly complementary partnership recently announced with Solvay and Veolia will allow the recovering of strategic battery materials such as cobalt, nickel and lithium with a very high efficiency and battery grade quality, so they can be reused in the production of new car batteries.

Speaker 1

So from First Life to recycling, we've gone full circle. So if we put all of that together, what are the expected savings?

Speaker 6

Today, the collection of and recycling of EV batteries represent a net cost of around €1,000 per battery. Evolution in our overall battery collection and recycling process will allow Renault Group to divide the net cost of recycling by 3 by 2,030, while securing for part of our needs an alternative and sustainable sourcing of battery materials at the competitive cost and preserving these natural resources.

Speaker 1

Clotilde, just in a nutshell and a few words to conclude, what today are the stakes for batteries?

Speaker 6

By viewing batteries through a circular economy lens, with the right tools and ecosystems in place at each step of the battery life cycle, the Renault Group is taking a clear competitive advantage and paving the way towards new sustainable business models and industry efficiency in line with its CSR policy.

Speaker 1

Clotilde, thank you very much indeed for this look at the future of the battery life cycle. So we move on now to our very last E Tech greatest hit, which is the lineup. And for that, I leave the floor once again to Luca DeMeo.

Speaker 2

So as our top expert have just shared, we embrace change at Renault. We take responsibility developing our own technologies from cell to pack, from e powertrains to microelectronics, from platform to vehicles. This is our nouvelle vague. This is how we intend to bring modernity in the conversation. Beyond efficiency and competitiveness, this in house approach gives us actually an amazing freedom when it comes to creating cars.

We're freed from classic design and traditional platform constraints. Our vehicles are born electric. They bear our signature, our Renault touch to electrification. Group wide will launch 10 additional battery electric vehicles by 2025, 7 of them will be Renault branded. These vehicles will follow always the same principle.

They have to be attractive, competitive and contribute to the group's profitability. By 2025, in percentage, the contribution margin of the new electric Renault models will be in line with their IC equivalents. Our numbers are good. Our looks are even better. So let's see.

Here are our contenders for the top of the chart. We'll start with 2 familiar and yet new tunes here on stage. I think you know them. We have taken our bestseller Megane and given it an electric revamping, making a totally new car on a totally new platform. We have taken the iconic Renault 5 and given it a modern electric twist.

Renault 5 will be made in electricity, North of France from battery to e powertrain to assembly on a totally new EV compact platform. This is today. Let's talk about tomorrow. As you see, we'll make the best out of our platform for compact electric vehicles. We will revive another major, I would say, iconic star.

Internally, we named it Forever to signify our intention to make it an instant classic. And as you see, it won't come alone. We'll also mask a lap on our all electric C segment, and this is on the Renault side. On the avant garde side, the Alpine Dream Garage we unveiled in January is coming actually through starting 2024, and I can't really wait to see some electrical pins on the road. Ladies and gentlemen, with this, I will close e ways.

I think we have been open, transparent, hopefully comprehensive on our electrification strategy. Of course, for the sake of time, we had to be selective. Our tech road map does not stop there. We have a lot of exciting new trucks in the studios. Business to business vehicles, Mobilize or Hydrogen are just some of them.

So if you like this format, and we hope you do, you're all may invited to join us in events to come. Next time we met, we'll present you our software strategy. The time after that, we'll show you on our brand new professional mobility ecosystem embracing hydrogen electric LCVs and services. So thank you, And I will now open to the questions.

Speaker 1

Thank you very much indeed, Luca. And I should add that all the topics covered today can be found at the website, renoeeways.com. So do check it out. So that brings us to the end of this session. It's been a pleasure to be with you.

But do stay tuned because in just a few moments, it will be over to Thierry Huron for a Q and A with the analysts. And then at 1:15 p. M, it will be over to Q and A for journalists. Thank you all for your attention.

Speaker 10

So good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for being with us today. And after this very rich presentations, I think it's right time to open the Q and A session. So I turn to the phone. Who is on the line?

Speaker 11

The first question comes from Thomas Besson from Kepler Cheuvreux. Sir, please go ahead.

Speaker 12

Thank you very much. It's Thomas Vest from Kepler Cheuvreux. I have two questions, please. The first one would be on the Allianz Corporation for the 2 parts. I think we understood the €1,000,000 figure mention.

Can you give us a split between Renault and Nissan and the 2 parts and confirm that Nissan will also operate on the BE electrified platform, please? So that's the first topic. And the second topic, you increased your BEV share targets for the run of rent in Europe to 2,030 at 90%, which I think previously included PHEV. Could you, on one side, explain why you seem to have lower substantially the PHEV share? Is it linked with forthcoming stricter targets from the EU?

Or the need maybe to have more BEV under the Renault brand to keep selling ICE products under, for instance, the Dacia brand in Europe? That's it. Thank you very much.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Thomas. I think that the first question is for Luca. So about the cooperation with Alliance and the split between the volumes between Renault and Nissan.

Speaker 2

Good. And Thomas, thank you for the downgrade. I hope that you are convinced that the story of Renault is stronger than you could perceive before, also thanks to the electric strategy. I think that the fact that we decided on commonalizing the battery pack is a major decision in the Alliance. And it shows that the Alliance is working.

And I really welcome the fact that together with our colleagues at Nissan and Mitsubishi, we got to that point. Let's say I would say that Renault, it will be a fifty-fifty. I don't exactly know the numbers of what Nissan projects in Horizon 2030, But I think it will be a fair split in terms of volumes because we have planned, as we've seen, with potentially 90% mix of EV, a substantial volume for each one of the 2 platform on the Renault side. So I would say probably there will be a fifty-fifty split, but it will depend also on Nissan decision on where to introduce electric cars around the world, China, U. S, etcetera.

And this is not necessarily on my hands. On the story of the mix, I the idea is that we prepare ourselves to really extreme scenario in terms of reduction of the limits and the objectives. So I think it's a safe bet on this, and we have now the arguments and the tools to achieve it. But I also want to say that the e tech technology, the hybrid and the plug in hybrid remain central to our strategy even beyond 2,030. So one of the advantages of Renault is that we can bet on both things.

But today, we are clearly stating that we believe in pure electric EVs. And you're right when you say that probably the Dutch brands will come later in terms of electrification simply because of the cost of EVs. So the Etech technology, the hybrids, the plug in hybrids are a huge opportunity for the Renault brand but more for the Dutcha brand to pass all, let's say, all the regulation that will be established starting 2025 and then 2030.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Luca.

Speaker 12

Thank you, Luca. Maybe just a follow-up, Thierry, because There was a question on whether Nissan would use the small platform or not, which was included in my first question.

Speaker 2

Yes. I think you should ask to the Nissan guys. Of course, it's an alliance platform. We're doing the work. We focus on making this platform very, very competitive in terms of cost and performance.

As they are smart people, I'm sure that they will utilize this asset of the alliance, but you should ask to Uchida or Ashwani of when and what they want to do. We I mean, our job is to make sure that this thing is really competitive. And as Philippe or Sophie or Gillev explained, I think we have in our hands something that is pretty unique, I would say.

Speaker 12

Thank you, Luca. And just to mention, on the downgrade, it was part of a sector view, not just you.

Speaker 4

I know. It was a joke. We knew it, Sarta.

Speaker 13

Okay. Thank you.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Sarta. Next on the line, please.

Speaker 11

The next question comes from Charles Vandicotte from Redburn. Sir, please go ahead.

Speaker 14

My first one, you've outlined, obviously, a very comprehensive plan for electrification today. But at the same time, back in January, we've set out targets for a substantial reduction in R and D expenditure. So can I ask how have you balanced the need to make those savings with the ambition that you've clearly shown in today's proposals? Perhaps you could share with us a figure for your total investment budget on electrification over the next 5 years? And my second question, I think you said that the R5 and the Megane are going to have a contribution margin in line with combustion engine vehicles.

Firstly, was that in 2025, so once battery costs come down or from the launch of the models in 2022? And secondly, what does that assume on pricing, particularly with respect to subsidies? Thanks.

Speaker 10

Okay. Thank you, Charles. First question, I guess, for Gilles. How you will manage the R and D decrease with the budget for EVs?

Speaker 4

Well, I think that, first of all, you have to know, and it was said during the presentation, we intend to invest €10,000,000,000 in the 5 years to come regarding the electrifications. And we can afford that. And we can afford that because we did a huge improvement in terms of R and D efficiency, playing on all the lever. I will name some of them. First of all, we cut diversity a lot by currently on the new project by more than 30%.

So huge saving on that. We did a lot, of course, also regarding validation. And we to benefit of our, I would say, in large R and D footprint in best cost countries. So all in all, plus the program approach that we are developing, that is to say a donor car and then derivative, allow us to cut dramatically our cost per car, our investment in entry ticket per cars, allowing us to do the development and the energetic transition that we are facing. So I think that we will cap our expenses around €4,000,000,000 in the year to come.

And I can say that we're going to make it. No problem for me.

Speaker 2

I think that, if I may, I think that Gilles is pretty modest. I mean, I remember him showing me the comparison between the money we would spend in R and D and CapEx on the previous generation of cars and the one that we are that are part of the Renault Ocean thing. So it could show me a 40% reduction into the thing, which is pretty substantial. That means we do the same amount of cars with 40% less money, okay? This is one thing.

The second thing you have to consider, and we said that during the presentation, it's been now 10 years that we've invested in electric cars. So one of the good news when I came here was to see that the investment on electric cars were actually behind our shoulders, okay? So we are leveraging the fact that Renault started very early and that platform like the CMF EV was already mostly invested, which is an opportunity. 3rd element, you do never have to forget, is that actually, we share within the Alliance the investment. So at the end of the day, we have the scale and we share the investment.

So that puts Renault in a pretty comfortable position to be able to do a smart investment, let's say, on the thing, get cars in the market, get competitive cars. You have also seen some of the partnership that we have established. So we're not trying to do everything alone, but still keeping some kind of control of the value chain of the development because we don't go into simple relation supplier customer, but we get into strategic patterns. Think about, for example, the ST Microelectronics or the decision we made with Envision or Verkor, etcetera, etcetera.

Speaker 10

So the second question regards with the margin and the assumptions that are behind this margin estimation. Tratil?

Speaker 6

Yes. You hear me? Yes. Yes. What we said and this is what we have in our plan is indeed that when you compare same segments between an EV car and an ICE car, our assumption by 2025 indeed is that you have more margin over variable costs both in euro and in percent for EV cars versus ICE car.

The assumption in terms of pricing is that anyway we're going to improve our pricing power. We have started that. You've seen that already. You're going to continue to see that believe me. So we're going to price it at the right level compared to what customer would expect for such good cars as you have seen behind us both for the Megane or the Renault 5.

In terms of subsidies, we strongly believe that subsidies are not here to stay forever. At the end of the day, if the EV picks up as much as what we think, governance won't be able to put as much subsidies as they used to do in the past. So we have taken as an assumption that it will gradually go down.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Thletilde.

Speaker 2

There is one golden rule we gave ourselves by developing the product plan for Revolution is that we don't do cards that don't make money. It is as simple as that, okay? So all the cards that you see that we will present are all products that are contributing and are not diluting the targets that we have announced during the resolution plan in January 14 this year, just to make it clear.

Speaker 6

Yes. The objective is not for it to be diluted for sure. If not, believe me, if you have so much EV cars and you're diluted, it's not a good recipe. So on the contrary, we are very cautious about what is the prospect of profitability of these cars before we push on the button.

Speaker 10

Absolutely. So who is next in the line?

Speaker 11

The next question comes from Sachin Ratman from Societe Generale. Sir, please go ahead.

Speaker 13

Yes. Thank you. Dean Rod from Societe Generale in London. My question is around Slide number 24 and about the popular profitable cars. Looking at your the price to range ratio you show in these two tables.

First of all, with the Neg Annie, which is a fairly imminent car, obviously, you're looking at a 5% advantage over the nearest German competitor we showed here. I'm wondering about the thinking on the second one for the Renault 5, EE5. Are you comparing this when is this model when are we expecting the launch of this vehicle? And what is the base comparison then? Is it against current technology of your competitors or projected where you think they're going to be when the RFI comes to market?

My second question is again about a bit more about the discussion about NMC versus LFP Technologies. Your decision not to go with LFP even for the more basic vehicles when other competitors seem to be quite prepared to do that and using the maybe the capacity that's already in place in the industry? Thank you.

Speaker 10

Okay, Stephen. Thank you for your question. I hope that I have got it right, especially the first one, but I think it's about the R5 competition. What do you think about the competitors that will come on this segment and when this car will be launched. Is that right, Stephen?

Speaker 13

Well, so just the and the very clear advantage you're showing in terms of range or range per kilometer that you're projecting for this vehicle, how you come to that conclusion?

Speaker 2

Okay. I take it. So Luca, yes. Good. So F5 will be in the market first half of twenty twenty four with a range up to 400 kilometers.

I think it's at that stage, it will be a relatively unique product because, of course, the Megane and the CMF EV are a kind of response to the plans of other OEMs that have already introduced product in the C segment, which is the core of the European market. We think we have a car that can stand competition boldly, and we will be able then to tell you in a few weeks or months why we think we have very, very solid arguments to put that car on the top of the charts, okay? But the Renault 5 and the CMF B EV, for the time being, I believe, from what we hear, is a pretty unique project. And this is exactly one of the message of the day. It's electro pop.

Pop means that we want to democratize electric technology, and we're going to do it with that platform. So the whole focus of the platform is to put the right content to be able to offer those cars in the price bracket, on a price budget that is accessible, affordable for the majority of consumers in Europe. Although we know that electric cars will be more expensive than ICE, but still, you know the Gaussian curve where the people have money. And with that car, we hit right into the middle of it. So it's a pretty unique project.

It's a very challenging project from an engineering point of view, from a production point of view, from any point of view. But when I look at the numbers, because now we are in 2021, the car will be out beginning of 2024. So we have a certain, let's say, confidence and visibility of the number, and it actually looks good. It looks good from a yes, from a performance and an economical point of view. So yes, then

Speaker 4

First Luca, just building on what you said. For the CMF BEV, we took a very, I would say, pragmatic path because the underframe of the platform will be fully EV native because we have a full battery pack, flat battery pack taking all the on the frame of the battery, but with a lot of carryover of existing power from the CMFB. So with this kind of recipe, we can have the best of 2 worlds, I would say. So native type performances in the EV world, but also higher volumes, so that is to say, low cost regarding cost efficiencies. So frankly and of course, it will go on the same manufacturing line than the EV Derivates cars.

So all in all, I think it's very efficient and we aim at decreasing the cost of the global car by 30% comparing to the current ZOE.

Speaker 2

And in terms of the decision we made on the product content with 400 kilometer, we have experience with the ZOE. We know very well how the people are using this. And with 400 kilometer, we think it's a good value for a city car, so where you probably will be kind of, let's say, forced to charge a car maybe once a week for the utilization. So we think it's a good value. And at that horizon, we would be in the condition to charge 80% or 300 kilometer into half an hour.

And then just 2 years later, it will be lower and lower. So we think that in a few years, we will be able probably to charge 400 kilometers, 300 kilometers in 10 minutes. So that then it becomes a compelling proposition for a city car.

Speaker 10

Thank you. I think the second question is for Philippe. Why we have chosen to go for NMC instead of LSP?

Speaker 3

Yes. So obviously, this is a good question. So in fact, we spent more than 1 year with Nissan within the Alliance to study LFP and NMC. The stake is 10% in term of cost. This is the advantage of LFP.

But LFP has also several disadvantages. So it's 30% ABL. The energy density is lower, at least 20%. This is much less performance at cold condition, where you can lose many, many EV range. And the aging also is not favorable.

So this is why at the end, for the European market, we have no doubt that in term of customer value and cost competitiveness, NMC is definitely the best choice.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Philippe. Who's next in the line?

Speaker 11

The next question comes from Henning Stockman from HSBC. Sir, please go ahead.

Speaker 15

Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking the question. Can I please go back to the Alliance and the leader follow-up concept that we're still familiar with? It was my impression that Nissan was the leader on many aspects of the BEV power chain. I'm slightly getting the impression that this may have changed in the way that you appear to take ownership for a lot of the development as well now.

Can you just say if this is still the case in the way we have come to expect at the time when you first introduced the leader follower concept? And also, I was slightly surprised about your comments with respect to the volume on part of Nissan. Can you just clarify that it's not so relevant for you to know the overall volume of the lines altogether to have a good projection for the cost that you'll be able to achieve regardless of volume? That's my first question, please. The second question is with respect to when you mentioned the 3% production cost saving.

If you could just give us the basis for that and by which time you're planning to achieve that. And then finally, my third question, if I may, just on the cost or the margin parity between ICE and BEST by 2025. Both Klotilde and Luca, I think, talked about contribution margins or margin over variable costs. If you are prepared to do so, would you please also make an indication for EBIT margin? Does it make a big difference when we take into account also the fixed cost?

Will then by then be the BEV still very dilutive to EBIT margin by 2025? Thank you very much.

Speaker 10

Okay. Thank you, Henning. First question is about the Alliance. So I guess Luca is for you.

Speaker 2

Yes. Henning, good morning. Good afternoon. I think that I'm not sure that it's this old story of leader follower is somehow in danger with what we're doing. I think that Nissan is cooperating on all the technology on the platform, the components together.

That's why we decided to have the same pack. Philippe, for example, is obviously working every day to pack together the thing. Nissan will come, I believe, with a similar kind of announcement soon. You will see there is a lot of consistency between the two things. But it's also true that we had to take responsibility on the control of the value chain for EVs when we say that we want to become, let's say, greenest brand as Renault in Europe.

And electric vehicles, in my opinion, will be democratized in Europe, yes, because Europe is the place for small cars. And small cars more affordable cars are cars that people can afford. It is as simple as that. That's why we took the initiative of pushing the CMF BEV because we want to propose cars that can go really in volumes, okay? When you sell a car at €20,000, €25,000 you have much more chance than selling a car at €40,000 It's as simple as that.

And this was always, if you want, the kind of, let's say, tradition of Renault as a pop brand to propose things that people could buy. So I think we are exactly on the sport we know how to do. So within the alliance, we took a little bit leadership on that, but we are working every day and every day, every single day. And I will leave our friends from Nissan and Mitsubishi to announce their strategy. I think it's fair, yes?

On the volume mix, of course I

Speaker 4

can be if you allow me, I can be a bit more specific regarding leader following scheme. So we are exactly where we said we will be. First of all, the CMF Easy platform homeroom is in Japan, so no doubt about that. And so we are following the evolution of this platform. And the CMFB platform is the EMBLOOM is in France, in Renault.

And so of course, the derivative of the EV variant of the CMFB, of course, is led by Renault. That's number one answer. Number 2 is all about the powertrain. We have a common powertrain for the CMF EV platform, and this technology will be reused on the CMF BEV on the Clerm plant. Of course, we have a lower output.

We will go from 160 kilowatt down to 100 kilowatt, but I would say with the same technology and the same assets. And of course, we have also all the inverter DC DC and charger that are common. So at the end of the day, now we add the batteries with the same layout for the cells, the same footprint for the sales, the same supplier. And so that's a good news at the end of the day because we will bundle all the volumes. And so we stick to the leader follower from what I was describing.

Speaker 2

So maybe I have to complement on what Gilles was saying. I mean, you have to understand that the news period we're getting into the alliance is about each one trying to do the best to be able to propose to our partners a very good solution instead of standing on political decision on who has to do what, etcetera, etcetera, okay? So we focus on coming out with projects that will be attractive from a business point of view to Nissan and Mitsubishi and vice versa. I think this is the best way of doing things. We in on the 14th January in evolution, we said that we had an internal market of in the last 3 or 4 years within the Alliance of €35,000,000,000 okay?

The target is to enlarge as much as possible. To do so, you need to come with good solution. And for example, the CMF BEV, I think it's a very, very good solution. The fact that we decided the similar module, same supplier is going to increase that kind of internal market also. This is the way you have to see the thing.

And why I say that the volume of Nissan are not, let's say, I don't know them in detail or it doesn't mean that they are not relevant. They are very obviously very relevant. But if I'm able to structure a project that can self sustain itself on the volume of Renault, everything that will come on top, okay, will be a benefit. So it's up to the Nissan people to decide or Mitsubishi people to decide whether they want to use where, when on which models, but I have to secure that the project is already running on our legs, okay? On the cost production cost, I just want to make a thing because on the chart, you had something that was not very clear.

We were actually talking about the production cost being 3% of the whole car, not minus 3%. So I think there was something that was a little bit confusing, but I'll leave it to the specialist.

Speaker 10

Okay. Luciano, do you want to add something on the manufacturing costs?

Speaker 9

Yes. Thank you for the question. So what I would like to explain at the Seeluca, the manufacturing cost must achieve 3% of the total cost. This is completely the aim of Renault electricity. So first, we will continue to improve our indirect cost by our agreement, social agreement.

We decreased our social cost and we optimized social cost. This is one of the aim of Renault Existing. Secondly, we will increase our member quality on the process in order to decrease our fixed cost. And this is the second part, the fixed cost. Fixed cost, we have first decreased the size of the Douay plant by 40%.

We will work to commonize all fixed costs between our 3 plants with DUE and MOBALGE. And also, we will develop with our battery plant to reduce this cost by mutualized waste management, utilities, sub HR topics. All these items will be mutualized in order to reduce fixed cost between our ecosystem.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Luciano. So the last question, Tracilda. About the Maybe

Speaker 2

can I add one thing, if you may? I mean Henning, you have to understand the electricity thing almost as a kind of, let's say, a European or a country project, okay? Everybody is trying to, let's say, engage to demonstrate that we are able to produce competitive electric cars in France, okay? So we have I have to also, let's say, thank, for example, the unions for what they have done in electricity. So we have signed an historical deal with all parties, all unions subscribing that.

We are getting the support from the region. We're getting the support from France on this. We're getting the support from our supplier that accepted to be integrated basically in our plan to reduce logistic cost. And we will probably get also support from Europe, I wish. We are asking for, let's say, to have and we were in conversation at the beginning of the week personally with the French President, Mr.

Macron, about creating a green free trade green deal zone as an example of what concrete the Green Deal can represent for Europe. This project qualifies for being one of the symbols of the European Green Deal, of course, for the automotive industry, but that concept could be applied for other industries. So you understand that this is a kind of an orchestration of a lot of initiative to demonstrate, okay, to take up the challenge of making a competitive car in electric car in Europe.

Speaker 6

On your last question, obviously the difference between margin over variable costs and the operating margin is dependent on the volume. If we achieve the volume we have in mind and we think they're quite normal, they're not that ambitious, we do believe we could do more than what we have in the plan as we said in January. We strongly believe that our whole EV range should be at the level of what we announced for 2025. So in my view, this is dependent on volume, but you looked at the car, they are very, very good in our view. There is no reason why they would not be successful.

So at the end of the day, this should be where we said we should be.

Speaker 10

Thank you. And

Speaker 4

Thank you, Clipper.

Speaker 15

Can I just clarify Chile? Is that okay? I believe the 2025 is a group target, right? So are you saying the BEVs will be at 5 percent margin as well within the Automotive business? Yes.

Is that fair, Clotilde?

Speaker 6

Yes. That's the while the automotive the EV product will benefit from RCI contribution too. So at the end of the day, the whole package of the operating margin of these EVs should be at the level of 5% by 2025. Yes, that's what I'm saying. At least.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Henning. And we will get to the next questions, please.

Speaker 11

The next question comes from Jose Asumendi from JPMorgan. Sir, please go ahead.

Speaker 16

Thank you very much. This is Jose, JPMorgan. A couple of questions. The first one maybe for Luca. Can you talk a little bit more about the electric vehicle demand you are seeing in the budget segment?

I think this is a segment where you have you probably will be the leader. I don't see many product contestants in this segment. Can you talk a little bit about the Dacia Freight? How many orders did you get? What kind of reception you got across the product so far?

And how does this help you in your strategy in the midterm? Second question, I know the focus is on EVs. And obviously, I'm coming out with a message that Renault has a bright EV future platform wise and product wise. However,

Speaker 2

we are running into

Speaker 16

a first half result season where I think expectations are still Renault is still making money, Renault is still not generating cash despite having reduced the fixed cost base by 20%, which is one of the biggest contrast I've seen in any investment case. So very much looking forward to see the numbers in the first half. The question is very simple. I think can you talk a little bit about the work you're doing to commonize the volumes across the key platforms? Maybe the question is a bit more for Gilles.

The work you're doing there and the work you're doing Lucca also, on the commonizing volumes on across Renault, Dacia and Lada on the common architectures, how much progress you've done there so far? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Okay. So the first question, I'm not sure I have all the elements or the latest elements for Dutch Spring, etcetera. But I know that a couple of weeks ago, we were already above, let's say, 10,000. They're telling me now that the orders in May are 16,000. So the thing is going really well, okay?

Obviously, the only issue we have is semiconductors, etcetera, etcetera because you have issues everywhere. So I think that the demand is above our current capability of production. But we think we're going to easily hit our objective with the Duchess Ping because the car is a very unique proposition. It's simply the most affordable electric cars. So if you want to actually minimize your budget to buy an electric car, you buy a Dutch spring.

There's no alternative in the market. So I think it's going to be like a kind of a Chinese drop, pump, pump, pump coming every day and for a long time, I'm sure, okay, independently of the, let's say, performance of the product or the range, etcetera, etcetera. So I'm pretty confident. In terms of how the electric market will develop on the small car segment, yes, it's difficult to make projection. But it will also depend from, let's say, our ability to propose things that people want to buy.

So are you going to buy your F5 because it's electric or because it's the F5 and it's a cool car? So I think we on a product like this, we combine the emotional side of making an attractive product with the rational side of, oh, I have to buy an electric car, okay? So we know that by 2025, we'll probably be kind of forced by the regulation to be at 25% mix of electric cars. So that's we are now doing everything that is, let's say, in our hands to achieve minimum that kind of mix and making money, which is the other issue. You don't have to forget, Jose, that Renault also has the E Tech, the hybrid and plug in hybrid.

This is a huge advantage for us because we if the mix changes a year or the things delayed, etcetera, etcetera, we'll be able to sell cars. And this is not true to all OEMs, okay? So the fact that 7, 8 years ago, some, let's say, engineers decided to bring the technology of Formula 1 and creating Renault Hybrid with the Itech was it's a kind of life insurance for us, okay? So and it will continue beyond 2020 5, will continue beyond 2030, I'm sure, not only in Europe, maybe on other brands like Dutch, on international markets. So I'm pretty confident that we will be able to respond to any mixed deviation on powertrains.

We're investing now in hydrogen, for example, on commercial vehicles. So I feel confident actually confident from that side. I know that I have not precisely answered to your question, but if I say a number, it's we have to do minimum 25, that's what we know.

Speaker 16

Thank you very much.

Speaker 10

Yes. Petr, for the platform?

Speaker 4

Yes. So regarding platform policy, it's very simple. It was announced in Jan. We are concentrating in for personal cars on 3 platforms. So CMF B with the new derivative that we are announcing today with the CMF BV, 3,000,000 cars a year by 2025 at the Allianz level.

The CMF CD, the same, 3,000,000 cars by 2025 at the Allianz level and the CMF EV in 25, 700 1,000 cars a year at the Allianz level. So that's for the platform. And we are concentrating everything. That is to say that Dacia, Lada are moving on the CMFB platform for the next gen Duster or the bigster that we also announced. That is also to say that when Dacia or Lada will need technology, for example, for the Etech, the hybrid, we will be able to transfer the technology very easily to those brands.

So that's the answer for the platform. Secondly, the way we are developing cars, we are bundling cars in so called program. I was just mentioning that at the beginning of this session. And that's very important because thanks to that and reducing of the diversity car by car, we are able to cut the NGT kit as said by Luca by 40% between I would say past generation of Renault and Revolution cars. So at the end of the day, I think that we have a quite efficient setup regarding carryover, carryover cost, but also very efficient setup to face changing, especially for Dacia brand.

Speaker 2

I have to say, just to, let's say, complement what Gil said that the program, DASTA, BICS, as also what we would call as MFB low spec, is actually one of the most impressive project that I've seen in my whole career. You have 85% carry across and commercialization on the different models, on 4 industrialization, on 3 brands, on 7 models XL, more than 1,000,000 car a year. So it's and you would be shocked by the profitability of this thing. So because we did a very smart LEGO game and creating a whole range of cars for different brands for different markets, it's one of the best projects that we have in the house. Yes, I agree.

Speaker 4

I agree. Just to deliver now.

Speaker 12

Yes, thank you.

Speaker 10

What's next?

Speaker 11

The next question comes from Horst Schneider from Bank of America. Sir, please go ahead.

Speaker 17

Yes. Thanks for taking my questions as well. I have just 2 follow ups and then one more strategic question. The first one is on your calculation regarding battery costs and how much they come down. Just would be interested to know what's your assumption on raw material costs if they remain stable and you think that it's really a realistic assumption?

Then the second one is just I want to make sure that I got this right. When you talked about power electronics and batteries, so I understand at the moment that, for example, in 2,030, you don't need any supplier anymore in power electronics except STMicro. And also batteries, you will be able to produce all the batteries that you need yourself, Just yes or no answer is fine. The last one, strategic one, that's on Financial Services because you have not talked about that at all. I could imagine at the moment, the problem is that the EVs are subsidized and that also drags down the used car EV prices.

So how do you deal with that? What is at the moment the profitability of financial services on electric vehicles? And how you expect that to develop? Thank you.

Speaker 10

Okay. So first question is about the raw material prices assumptions in the battery cost. So Philippe, I guess this one is for you.

Speaker 3

So for the battery cost, so of course, we are depending on the market. So we know that the most sensitive point is the cobalt. So our target is clearly to use as much as possible content in term of cobalt. This is what we are doing. We hope to be free cobalt by 5 or 6 years.

This is our target. And for the rest, as you understood, we are strongly working on the pack itself because there is also a lot to do. And trying to achieve less than $20 per kilowatt hour at pack level is quite challenging, but this is what we are going by 2024.

Speaker 10

Thank you. So the second question relates to the suppliers for the power electronics that we need more than STMicroelectronics for doing this power electronics box?

Speaker 3

So here the intention is to have the overall control of the power electronics. Of course, Renault is not able to produce chips. So this is why we need these partnerships. We will not be able also to produce components such as PCBs. So we will still be relying on some partners.

But let's say that the overall design will be mastered by Renault for the power electronics.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Philippe. And then a question about the Finco and the There

Speaker 2

was a question also on the battery capacity.

Speaker 10

Yes, sorry, I forgot this one.

Speaker 2

I mean, yes,

Speaker 17

yes, thank you.

Speaker 2

Yes, I can ask you this. I mean, of course, the old plan with Verkor, with Envision and also with continuation of collaboration with LG, basically saying that we try to secure 1,000,000 car production with the battery. So 1,000,000 car, you can do the math. It's enough to achieve the EV mix that we have declared for 2,030. So we feel that from now to 20,030, we with the announcement that we have made, we'll be able to, let's say, to cover the needs in terms of battery supply for our sales.

But the thing will not stop there. I think we have we still have other discussion with other players to see if we can secure even more because I have the feeling that we've rather more scarcity of battery capacity than actually oversupply. So we keep working. But we have right now what we need.

Speaker 10

Thank you.

Speaker 6

Yes. On the Finco, I'm not sure Horst what you say that their EV is a burden on the Finco. Let me remind you a few things. There is 2 way. We have been exploring 2 ways of selling EV cars, either by selling them completely with the battery inside or selling the battery separately, leasing the battery versus selling the shell.

We started with that last scheme in order to reassure people about the durability, I would say, of the battery. And on that portion, actually it's RCI who's leasing the battery. And as we said earlier today in the presentation, actually the battery has more value than what we thought at the beginning. So we now end up with receiving batteries back, which have a value, which was not counted at the beginning. So it is a source of benefit for RCI.

And on the other one, RCI is not holding the residual value of the car anyway. It's done except in U. K, but not in the rest of the world. So there is no problem with the potential lower value of the used car. And as we also said in the presentation, we strongly believe now that we're going to be able to increase the residual value of the battery if we do the right marketing towards the rating agency and make them understand the value of the battery for the second life and even after that when you recycle.

So we do believe that it's going to enhance the residual value of the used car in EV. So all in all, I don't see a problem of burden on the profitability of the Finco because of EV.

Speaker 2

Can I say one add one thing to what he'll say? The whole story of refactoring, 2nd life, 3rd life, mobilize, etcetera, etcetera, It's a fundamental aspect and uniqueness of Renault on this field. I mean, when I came here, I kind of discovered that, for example, Renault was basically the biggest recycle of materials in France. And since then, we have organized ourselves to structure our control of the 2nd life and 3rd life. And the FLAN project, which is a very ambitious project of creating the biggest circular economy platform in Europe, will serve the purpose of making our electric cars more competitive, okay, and more profitable, yes?

So we will go very, very strong on, let's say, managing the 2nd and the 3rd life with V2G and relationship with some of the energy companies to recycling, etcetera, etcetera. So please keep in mind, maybe there's no time to be to go very much in detail, but look at that part that we don't look at because this thing will have an impact on the competitiveness of electric cars. And Renault is very, very well positioned on the issue. There was a question, let's say, about subsidies, etcetera. I just want to tell you, for example, on the Renault 5.

We have agreed at the beginning of the project that we would be able to sell the cars in a profitable way at the same price of today's ZOE without the subsidies, okay? So we have already integrated in the project that the subsidies will be at that horizon 0, okay? So and we're talking about 2024. So if they continue, like in some cases, in some, let's say, in some countries, that would all be benefit for us, okay? So it's already integrated into the thing that the sub venture will be 0.

Of course, we would welcome the government to keep pushing, but we think that the government should probably put more money upstream and on the infrastructure, if you want my opinion, at this stage.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Luca. Okay. That's

Speaker 17

great. Thanks for the answers, yes?

Speaker 10

Yes. So we're going to take the next question, please.

Speaker 11

The next question comes from Arnd Elingost from Bernstein. Please go ahead.

Speaker 18

Yes. Hi, everyone. It's Arnd Elingost, Bernstein. And thanks for the really good content today, team Renaud. I have one question.

It's maybe for Luca. And I wonder whether you have some insight concerning future emission regulation, especially in Europe, and whether we're moving from driving emission or pipe emission to a more holistic approach of well to wheel emission for the autos sector. And really in that context, whether politicians or policymakers are willing to shift the responsibility of ESG and renewable energy towards carmakers at the end. And of course, everyone's involved here, the miners, the utilities, the battery makers, to make to create really a circular, sensible area of personal transportation. So I just wonder what your thoughts are concerning future regulation and well to wheel emissions.

Speaker 2

Hain, thanks for the question. I will actually maybe share the answer together with Gilles, who is very much involved into this whole discussion of regulation Euro 7. But as a principle, we in the way we develop this kind of electropop strategy from Renault was to assume that we should be in the position not to be, let's say, accused of greenwashing in any way. So we're going to do from an industrial point of view, from a sourcing point of view, from an energy, let's say, offer to the customer point of view, we're going to try to hit all the tick all the boxes, okay? That's the principle because we know very well that if someone is charging an electric car with a bad, let's say, environment mix, then some days the discussion will emerge again, etcetera.

So we're going to try to do it in the proper way, and it's part of the project, okay? We have a strategy for decarbonization of the supply chain, for the decarbonization of the industrial thing, for the chemistry of the battery, for the offer in terms of energy with mobile. So that's the starting point from us, okay? Now I think that the discussion on regulation is a bit it's a kind of today, it's a smaller perimeter. Maybe you can say what you feel is the latest status of the discussion.

Speaker 4

Yes. So coming back on the life cycle analysis, this is fully embedded in our reflection, I would say, because today doing everything in France make fully sense because today as of today, electricity in France is around 60 gram per kilowatt hour, very close to Norway or Sweden. And I would say oneten of what it is, for example, in Poland. So is to say that making the batteries and the sales in France and the global car in France make fully sense regarding CA2 effectiveness, number 1. Number 2, of course, we are facing many regulation.

We are about to have the global safety regulation that will take place mid-twenty 22. Then we are preparing very well the Euro 7, just speaking about Europe, early 2026. And this is still under discussion. So we are waiting for the final regulation end of this year. And we are pushing in order to, I would say, in a way make hybrid ice cars still homologation compliance.

That's key because that's for us a way to serve our clients, of course, some of our brands, especially Dacia, but also to have a smooth transition between ICE world to full BEV world. And that's for us here because moving all our assets to BEV, you see today that we are ready to do it, but it will take some time. So of course, we need to a little smooth this transition and to be ready. But Renault, with these two legs, I would say, etek hybrid and etek bev is fully ready for this transition.

Speaker 10

Thank you, Gilles. So it's we are almost done in terms of time. So I think that we could take one last question.

Speaker 11

The last question comes from Stuart Pearson from Exane BNP Paribas. Sir, please go ahead.

Speaker 19

Yes. Good afternoon. Yes, and thanks for the great presentation. So just two questions then to finish on, maybe just coming back to this profitability because forgive me, I'm a little bit confused because it feels like you're being a bit more conservative on the profitability message. I mean, I think this is a company, albeit prior management team that did talk about Avian having parity by 2022 at one point, and I'm pretty sure in January, you're a little bit more optimistic.

So and it sounds like the cost side is going quite well. So is it fair to say that you're just being very conservative on pricing, particularly that point about the incentives going away? Or is there something else that's going on that perhaps makes you not so optimistic on the ability to perhaps reposition the Renault price point using electrification, which I would have thought would be a key opportunity? And then on the cost side, I guess the aspect of the strategy that surprised me a little bit is the vertical integration side, or at least there's something electro pop that seems focused on affordability and getting costs down rather than perhaps a premium approach. I would have thought you'd be more in a rush to outsource things like motors and power electronics to Nidec, Valeo, Siemens, etcetera, to leverage their scale rather than take that in house.

But maybe that's just something that follows later on. So interested on your thoughts on that as well. Thank you.

Speaker 10

Okay.

Speaker 6

On the profitability, we must have been misleading towards, sorry about that, because there nothing has changed in terms of profitability versus what we said in January 14. On the contrary, for most of what we're talking here about. So yes, we're always conservative. That's a trademark, I know. But there is nothing that is going in the wrong direction in terms of EV and in terms of many other things, by the way, versus what we said on the 14th January.

So we said that we will get parity. We said that we will get profitable. We also confirmed today that on a margin of our variable cost, we're going to be above ICE. That is a fact. And it's already the case, by the way, in some occasion.

So no, profitable will be where we said it would be around 5% by the end of 2025.

Speaker 10

Jean, do you want to take the last one?

Speaker 4

Yes. In fact, we are just at the beginning of the electrification history. And the reason why we want to integrate is the keywords is integration. And Philippe explained during the show that we wanted to integrate completely all the power electronics. And in order to master that, we cannot rely on Tier 1, 1 Tier 1 bringing in this box.

The second one is inverter and so on and so forth. So we have to control completely this value chain. And that's the reason why we are teaming up with Estee Microelectronic because those guys can bring the, I would say, essential component that we cannot do. But at the same time, we will master the full integration, saving a lot of costs. So that's the reason why we want to go in.

And on top of that, it's not brand new for Renault, because you know that for hybrid, we were already mastering the development of power electronic. And in our Clerm plant, we are assembling the e POWER electronics for our e Tech hybrid technology. So we aim at doing the same for best technology and bringing a lot of value to the company.

Speaker 10

Okay. So it's 1 p. M. So I think it's time to close this session. Thank you very much, all of you, for having been with us today for this e waste event.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for all your questions. And I guess that we will come soon with new events during the second half. Have a good day. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Speaker 20

Right. Good afternoon and welcome for the specific Q and A session for the press. We are together we're going to be together for around about 45 minutes and we already have received quite a lot of questions. So we're going to start immediately with the first question coming from Spain, El Mundo, Fernando, Yamas. And that's quite a global question for you, Luca, I guess.

Can Europe compete against China in the manufacturing of electric vehicles?

Speaker 2

I think this is what we will have to demonstrate for with the electricity, let's say, in the north of France or other projects that some other OEMs are developing also. This is the challenge. Having said that, I believe that it's not a question of competing against another country. Is more, let's say, about being able to do things that the people buy at a competitive cost with the right profitability. Europe will be one of the places where electric technology will be, let's say, will have to be successful also for the regulation.

And moving around cars in the current context, including the regulation will be made on CO2, will force supply chain to be located in the different regions of the world. So let's focus on making sure that some projects are very competitive and successful, like the one that we are we have announced today, rather than talking about competition between systems.

Speaker 20

We might perhaps complete this answer with another question coming from Spain with you, Jose Vicente from Armando Francisco Fernandez, L'AbbeSe. How do factories have to be transformed in order for Renault to be a benchmark for electric vehicles?

Speaker 8

Well, our factory has started to transform some years ago. And how? First, we have assembly flexible line from the Alliance in Bordesaud that we can integrate in the same line the ICE platform, OIB platform. And also in assembly line, now we produce, for example, ICE vehicle that Micra and Soyinfran in the same line or we can produce PS CV or ICE vehicle in Spain, in Biolif or Katur. And also assembly battery, we have a standard in Flamport EV, assembly battery or assembly hybrid in Valladolid or Turkey or now in Korea.

That's we have a standard, we have started some years ago. And in function of lineup of the new vehicle, we'll adapt the plan for this transformation. And also, we harbor rapport. We ever fight to become benchmark. And with this reference, we develop our standard.

Speaker 20

Thank you. So next question coming from the U. K, John McIlroy from Auto Express. So hi, Luca. With these new retro inspired models like the 5 and the Forever leading the EV push, Where does that leave recognized nameplates like Clio and even ZOE?

So will you make subsequent generations of these cars? Could you have best Clio and the ZOE in the same model portfolio?

Speaker 2

Yes. I mean, let's say that this is the kind of question we're asking our self because we have a perspective on the product planning that is solid and detailed and granular with the Revolution, let's say, product lineup. And we are actually right now thinking what we do the next on the next thing. Most likely, product like the Clear will stay. We will see in which kind of form, but we haven't made a firm decision on every detail of the products beyond the 2027, let's put it like this.

So that's the work of the next few months because the urgency was to put the Revolution products on the rails, make sure that they work, make sure that they have the right performance, the right cost and the right profitability. And I'm pretty happy for the work that collectively we have been doing the last 12 months because I think on the next wave, Renault will have probably a product lineup that's so strong that we have never had that in many, many years. Now that's my feeling as a car guy. Let's put it like this. The ZOE, we have already announced that by the end of 2024, when, let's say, it will end up its life cycle, we will discontinue the car.

But that naturally will be replaced by the products some of the products that we have presented today. So we don't have worries to have a hole in our offer.

Speaker 10

Good.

Speaker 20

A question for really to mobilize and you Luca and Clotilde from Reuters of France. Is Renault looking at investing at in Ionity? Is the fast charge not the weakest point of the electric system or ecosystem today? And how are we planning to remedy this problem?

Speaker 6

Okay. So, yes, obviously, the charging, not only the fast charging, but the charging is a key element of the penetration rate of EV among the automotive industry. What we're doing in Mobilize already, we have a subsidiary, which used to be called Alexant, which is now Mobilize Power Solution, which is indeed advising currently corporate cities and other corporation, I would say, on how to best install charging infrastructure at the best price, the best dimension, if I may say. They already have 5 subsidiary among Europe covering 11 countries, which is basically 80% of Western Europe needs and they're very efficient in B2C. They are now going to go sorry, in B2B.

They're now going to go to B2C and that's what they're starting to develop. But you're right, it remains a hole in this, which is the fast charging infrastructure on highways, for example. And obviously, we cannot look at any opportunities together with other OEMs or energy company or even infrastructure company or the state themselves, we have to make sure that our customers will not be concerned about their ability to charge whenever they need their cars. Do you want to add something, Luca?

Speaker 2

Yes. I think that, of course, the issue of infrastructure is critical. I think with all the announcement made by the different OEMs, nobody can blame the automotive industry not to have invested on electric cars. I think we're going faster than the infrastructure, and this is an issue, okay? You have 3 parts in the infrastructure.

You have the people will like mobile phones, they will charge at home and the office. So this is one part, okay? That's exactly the part that Krotido was referring to with the Elxene, which is an excellent company that is taking care for companies and now private consumer so that they get everything done quickly even before the car comes to their house and has been delivered. This thing, I think, we can, let's say, we can control, and we are doing the job. We probably need from the authority to lower down the administration process that makes painful for many people to install the chargers at home, in their garage, in condominiums or in the parking of the condo.

We need simplification from an administer point of view. I think that the part of public charging in the streets is not our job. It's very complex. Every city is different. And when we have 10 of those things standing on one street, then the discussion will start whether we are perturbating the whole quality of life in the cities.

And the 3rd part is the superchargers on HyHo. So my personal conviction is that superchargers should be where the people are used to charge their car today. So they should be in petrol station, okay? And I think that we need to get out of this kind of catch-twenty 2 chicken and egg discussion between OEMs, authorities, infrastructure, energy things. So my wish, my dream is that we could be sitting at the table all across industry to agree on how to share, even together maybe with the authorities, the pain and the investment that is needed to create a network of supercharger, European supercharger, so that the people can don't have the anxiety that they cannot go on the weekend to the seaside because they don't think that the car will be able to be charged, okay?

So I think that we need to find opportunity to discuss with other industry and fix the problem urgently because the volumes are electric cars are going like this and the infrastructure is not as fast. This is the reality of the story. And we are ready we are very open, as Renaud, to discuss. We're discussing with Ionity, but it cannot be only one project covering the whole thing for Europe. I think we need to open different streams, and we are very open to discuss with authorities, with energy industry, with infrastructure industry, with other OEM to neutralize the, let's say, the investment.

Speaker 20

Right. Thank you. So the next question is for you and your team of experts, Gilles, I guess. Vicky Parrot from the UK. When will we start to see lighter batteries in mainstream EVs?

Does Renault still expect to have cobalt free batteries in the near future?

Speaker 4

Well, that's mainly the reason why we're choosing NMC cathode batteries rather than LFP. It's because it's 20% more efficient in terms of energy density. And at the end of the day, when you have a look to the global efficiency of the synthesis, the holistic view of the car, the more or less 10% GAAP difference in terms of sales between NMC and FP is completely deleted, I would say, by this weight problem. So that's one of the key reasons for us to stick on the NMC routes, number one answer. Regarding cobalt free, yes, we are working on that because, of course, that cobalt is quite expensive and very volatile.

So we are working and not for the coming generation for the F5, but I think that before 2,030, around 2026 or 2027, yes, we aim at introducing cobalt free cells. Perfect. Thank you, Gil. Jumping on the next very technical question regarding batteries, I guess for you, Philippe. Can you already tell us what type of battery format you will use, round cell, prismatic, pouch?

Speaker 3

Yes. So for this one, this is kind of some people think this is a kind of a religion, but we have no religion, in fact. So for example, for full HEV, we are using cell and for EV at that time, we are using pouch format. And honestly speaking, until now, we found some advantage of the pouch format. And we intend to keep it because in a very simple way, the cell can be very hot under pressure and the pouch cell allows the cell to breathe more easily than the prismatic.

So this is why we intend to stay on the pouch format. And from now, we see an advantage in term of cost.

Speaker 20

Right. Thank you, Philippe. So let's go back to some figures. Tara Patel from Bloomberg. Can you please elaborate on how the €10,000,000,000 will be spent and when parity on margins will be reached with ZOE or Renault 5?

So let's start with EUR 10,000,000,000. How the EUR 10,000,000,000 will be spent? So it's a breakdown or It's a

Speaker 2

kind of very technical. I don't have the split of the thing. I think it will be we can actually give this information, but that's we know that we will have to develop the platform CMF BEV. We are investing on the electric powertrain, but we're not going to give a detail of the mix of the thing. So it's there's no point in doing that.

Well, I think

Speaker 4

that what we can say is we have in mind for the hybrid side of it, we have in view 3 generations, the current one in the street, next generation to be launched on the next CSUV and the one after. So that's for the for, I would say, the hybrid. And for the BEV technology is exactly what you've seen during the presentation. So we have a clear roadmap being on the power electronics side, battery side, but also on the platform side and the e motor. So all in all, it's balanced, I would say, between all the levels.

Speaker 2

Yes. And then you have to consider also that our friends from Nissan, from the Alliance, are also invested. So I think I'm not saying that you need to double this thing probably even more, but this is this will be their, let's say, message and communication when they will present their electric strategy.

Speaker 20

Right. So the next question is on the battery life cycle. What's your answer to the fast innovation cycle in the battery management? How do we manage to avoid the loss of value of the battery through the life cycle?

Speaker 6

Well, I guess on that one, that's all what Mobilize is about on the energy side. I think what we have discovered, thanks to our 10 years of experience in EV is that at the end of the life of the vehicle itself, the battery still has 2 third of its ability in terms of recharging. And hence, it's opened many, many doors on what we can do for the second life of the battery. And that's exactly what we already have started. We announced some project a few weeks ago in Vivatek, where we are partnering with a startup in Germany to have mobile battery storage solution with batteries.

We're also working with Smart Island trying to have a full scope of energy solution from electric EV to stationary storage. So there's many, many, many things that we can do with the 2nd Life. And then obviously, you have the value at the recycling base. So all that we're still discovering and the perspective are tremendous because there's many people and we're talking with many energy people with cities, with authorities, with corporate who are willing to find a second source of energy with secondhand batteries.

Speaker 20

All right. Thank you, Clotilde. The next question is from Lucien Nouvelle and about the statement of selling 90% of electric cars for the Renault brand by 2,030. The question is, when do you plan or do we plan to reach 100%? And do we also have figures for the whole Renault group beyond the Renault brand, basically?

Speaker 2

Yes. I mean, I think the focus is to state that Renault as we did in January, that Renault brand will be one of the greenest, if not the greenest brand in Europe in terms of mix. We know that by the decision we made on the platform for Datca, we are able to easily transfer technology from one brand to another when it's needed to comply for Dutch to comply with not only the regulation, but also the taxation in different countries. So we have a lot of flexibility. But the priority for Dacia will be to get affordable cars and compliant cars in terms of local, national, let's say, fiscal systems and regulation.

And Renault will push very hard on electric cars. We have the products. We have the platforms. Yes, and this is the idea. Now when are we going to get to 100%, I would say after 2,030.

But if it's 31%, 32%, 33%, it doesn't really matter, okay? So I think that the important thing is that we have decided to make of Renault a very EV, let's say, oriented brand as much as we have decided for Alpine to be a full EV brand, which I think is also another statement.

Speaker 4

I think, Luca, that current value for Dacia's plan is 10% for 2,030. So but of course, we will be flexible because thanks to the usage of the same platform,

Speaker 2

we can adapt You mean on electric?

Speaker 4

Yes, on electric. But then you

Speaker 2

have a lot of hybrid. Exactly. Yes.

Speaker 20

All right. So moving to Russia auto review from Igor. Electropop is for Europe. Is it only for Europe? Or are actually other regions also involved?

And more generally for Russia, what about EV strategy in Russia?

Speaker 2

Yes. We haven't come to, let's say, to a precise and granular strategy, for example, for Russia. Although we know and we are in discussion with authorities and our people and our team there because there are movements also in this direction for the Russian market, Renault will be and Lada will be out of us will be prepared to answer to potential development of the market in this direction, I think, quicker than the other. We are the market leader there, as you know. So we have to show the way.

So if there are possibility, we'll find a way. The good news for out of us is that we have, I think, made a very, very big decision on platform localization. The CMF B that we will localize in Togliati will be a very, very flexible platform where we will be able to add technology if it's demanded from the market.

Speaker 20

Right. Thank you. So a question from clintechnica.com. The BEF market in Europe is moving towards 20% this year. Following this growing trend, Renault will need about 2,000,000 bath in 2026.

Will you be able to scale up your production capacity and to provide the needed 150 gigawatts of battery cells?

Speaker 2

I don't know the calculation, but if 90% is €2,000,000 €2,000,000 100% is €2,200,000,000 Normally with the Renault brand, we do €1,200,000,000 €1,300,000,000 So you're actually assuming that I'm doubling the volume of Renault in Europe from now to 2,030, which will be a very, very good news for us because we haven't planned that. So I think that the numbers are slightly different. We think we are securing with the current strategy with the announcement we made today that we'll be able to source for 1,000,000 car production in Europe. So it's around 40, 50 gigawatts, yes? And that's enough for the volume projection that we have.

But as I said before, we will continue to scout for capacity because I have the feeling that in Europe, we'll be more likely to have a kind of, let's say, scarcity of battery capacity rather than overproduction of it. So we continue to scout for sourcing and supply.

Speaker 20

Good. Thank you. So we have another quite technical question from Autocar, Jesse Cross in the UK. Does the current generation EESM use slippering for external extension? The future plans announcement mentions the development of brushless technology by 2024.

Will this be brushless EESM? And can you briefly describe how that will work? I guess the question is for you, Philippe.

Speaker 3

Yes. Thank you for the question. So as you know, today, on the EESM, because we have no permanent magnet, we need to allow the current to enter in the rotor. So this is done currently by some brush, so there are some contacts. We know that we can improve and to optimize our cost by a brushless technology, which is not, I would say, completely innovative, maybe a little bit more in the case of automotive.

Just look to the other electric motor around you and you will see that brushless is not so innovative. But in terms of automotive, because of the reliability and you have to secure this performance for at least 15 years, This is a little bit we need to manage it a little bit more carefully.

Speaker 20

All right. Good. Next question is from Peter Seale from Automotive News Europe. Regarding the Renault Forever and coming Alpine small EV, Will there be derivatives of the Renault 5 under the program strategy that Gil mentioned at some point? And there's another question after that.

With the 90% BEV mix by 2,030, what do you think the mix of plug in hybrids will then be? So let's start with Renault 5 derivatives forever Alpine and then

Speaker 2

Yes, there will be derivative, yes. That's basically the message. So we have the platform localized. We have capacity. So we have planned relatively conservative volumes to make sure that the project could run on the right cost base, let's put it like this.

But we have opportunities, and we are already and many models are still in the kitchen, but that's the sense of the announcement today. And with the answer about the, let's say, the 90% electric mix, of course, the rest will be hybrid. That's relatively obvious, yes? And you have to consider that the 90% is for the brand, the 100% will be for Alpine, and that will have a different mix, okay? And that will really benefit of the e tech technology where we are very hard to get the cost down.

So at that horizon, I think we will be able, through the hybrid and also maybe the plug in hybrid, to offer to Dutch customers a product that is below the thresholds that are, let's say, considered by local fiscal system or regulation. This is the opportunity for them.

Speaker 20

Okay. The next question is from One

Speaker 2

of the things that I'd like to say is that we talk a lot about EVs, but e tech is really a pearl in the Renault world. So when I came to the company, I actually look at the thing, and it's actually a very impressive technology. We believe that in the next 18 to 24 months, we'll be able to get to a level of cost of this technology that is comparable to the leaders because structurally, the engine the technology is a very, very smart technology. Without gearbox, with the modularity on the battery, with the same concept, you can move from an hybrid to a plug in hybrid. This is a very, very smart technology.

So I think the engineers of Renault did a fantastic job. They worked 7 years on the thing. We're not going to give up on the hybrid and plug in hybrid. This thing will accompany us way beyond 2,030, I believe.

Speaker 20

Thank you, Luca. So the next question is from Alessio Jaconell, Corriere de la Sera. And it's all about autonomous driving. Is there an autonomous driving strategy? And how does it develop along with the overall electrification of our portfolio?

Speaker 2

Yes. So Alessio, I think we today, we try to concentrate on the electrification strategy. I think that today makes the point that Renault is not late when it comes to EVs. On the contrary, today, I think we have been able to prove that with arguments and facts and decisions that we've made that we could pretend to be on the podium a leader in this energy transition. The autonomous driving discussion is another discussion, okay?

If you want my personal opinion, I've been we've been back and forth with that in the industry whether this thing would be disruptive or not. I think that it will be you always have to look at 2 things when you engage in the 1 technology. 1 is, what is the benefit for the customer? And second, what is the how much the customer is willing to pay for this technology? And third, what is the business case of this thing, okay?

Sometimes it's difficult to generically say that autonomous driving has a very, very clear business case in general. But there are some applications that could be actually interesting and where there is a business case. Think about platooning for trucks. We know very well that downtime is a problem for trucks. It means money.

So if you use platooning, you avoid accidents, you reduce 10%, 15% consumption. There is a business case. And I'm sure that in a case like this, it will work very, very well. And in fact, all companies in the truck sector, they are working on such kind of solution. And we are looking for application in the automotive industry that will make a lot of sense.

This is one thing. The second thing is on the autonomous driving, there will be different step. Normally, we talk about level 2, 3, 4, 5, etcetera, etcetera. But in fact, you can already and you see that in our cars, integrate part of this package to really improve the experience, the safety of our customer. Think about predictive cruise control thing.

This is very good to avoid getting fines or even reducing consumption of the product. It will be applied on electric cars at Renault. So I think that you don't have to look at it at the only at the end destination of this trend, but also what we would be able to introduce on our cars for the benefit of our consumer. I don't know if, Gil, you want to add something on that.

Speaker 4

Well, just perhaps a few comments. Frankly speaking, it's very difficult to find a business case for Level 3 features. That is to say, hands off features. But nevertheless, we are going to introduce a Level 2 plus which is a predictive system that will be introduced on the Megane and next generation C SUV. That will be really state of the art.

So stay tuned, and we will show you that in a few months.

Speaker 20

Good. Thank you. So question from Julien Marieux, AGC, Dow Jones. About profitability, you target parity in percentage with ICE cars by 2025. Does that mean that electric vehicles operating margin will be over 5% at that time?

Speaker 6

Well, that's the target. That's clearly what we said, as I said just earlier, there's no reason why we would decide to put on the market cars which are not making the same profit as what we used to do. So the target for the group is 5, is a minimum by 2025. So there's no reason why we would be less demanding on our EV cars by that time.

Speaker 20

Okay. Good. Thank you. Next question from Joachim Olivera from Portugal. Wireless charging has apparently been dropped by OEMs due to the difficulty to keep a minimal level of efficiency.

What about Renault? So what's Renault position on that one? So Philippe or Sophie or

Speaker 3

So I can start. So wireless charging, this is a kind of as you explained, this is a kind of old and longer story. We tried many times. We had many, many adventure in the alliance. So it could be efficient, but because you have nothing, no contact.

So it's, of course, very, very elegant. But the fact is that this is very expensive and this is a main today, the main roadblock. And the fact is that to transfer the energy, there is some limitation. So to summarize, cost is the first roadblock. And second, the energy transfer is quite limited.

So this is why until now, we gave up, but maybe one time we will succeed.

Speaker 20

Good. The next question is from Colombia, but it refers to South America actually. Do we have plan to introduce Air5 and Megan in Latin America?

Speaker 2

Yes. We will we're discussing that. And there are no plan for the time being. I think our priority in Latin America is to provide our teams with the, let's say, the core products that they need to make their operation profitable and successful. So there are discussions going on as we have had, for example, in Russia or in Turkey or in other places, where we are kind of reengineering our presence on international markets with a clear driver now ahead, which is to make those operation more solid, more stable and more profitable.

So I think we have good ideas, and we are discussing with the teams there to we have actually a plan, which is pretty clear. It doesn't include for the time being such kind of cars, but who knows what happens, right? Importing cars directly from Europe, in South America, it's not an obvious thing from a profitability point of view, even locally.

Speaker 20

Right. A question from Belgium. That's about Wylot and the manufacturing of Wylot. So are you planning to manufacture the Wylaut e motor in Clion?

Speaker 4

So

Speaker 3

of course, this is an innovative technology. As we said, thanks to our agreements, we have the exclusivity in term of rights for the production. So we will produce it by ourselves. And as Luca explained, just after Ferrari, we will introduce it by for large scale. And I believe that the place for this e motor, which is not decided today, but should be in Clerm.

I don't know if, Jose, do you want to add something?

Speaker 8

Well, I think you have been very clear. It's under

Speaker 4

study. Perhaps a word on the actual Flux e motor. Frankly speaking, that's another nugget, because it's very rare that when we want technology, you do a strike because you can lower cost, you can increase the efficiency by a lot And at the same time, you reduce the size of the e motor. So first introduction will be on the Etech hybrid for, I would say, 3rd generation. And then we are also contemplating the possibility to bring this technology on dev cars.

Speaker 20

Right. Thank you. So next question is from Jorge Reis, Lusso Motors. The whole car market talks about technology, electric mobility, autonomous driving. How is Renault going to maintain the passion for the car for those who still look at the car as a provider of emotions without just being in front of a computer on wheels?

Speaker 2

Look, I think that the old name of the game for car guys and like us, they used to call us petrol heads. So that is actually to keep emotion into the thing. And when you look at, for example, what we're planning to do with Alpine, okay, it's exactly this. It's the challenge of being able to introduce new technology, electric technology, but still keeping the car an emotional object, okay? That's I have personally absolutely no doubt that this is feasible.

And if there is a signature in my personally, in my old career, it was to always keep emotion in the equation. I always try to do products that were emotional for the view because when they are emotional, people are ready to pay. It goes beyond rationalize. So don't worry. We have clearly integrated that

Speaker 20

in our reflection. Good. Next question from Italy regarding STMicroelectronics. When will these new components be included in your power electronics? Philippe, back again to you.

Speaker 3

Yes. So as explained, we will introduce 2 breakthroughs in terms of technology. Actually, the silicon carbide is already well known, even if it's not so common. But we will also introduce the nitride gallium nitride. And what we are preparing is for our 3rd generation HEVs, which is expected to be launched by end of 2025 beginning of 2026.

And then after, we will extend it to all our EVs since, as I explained, our power electronics will be completely suitable for all types of powertrains, means HEV, PHEV and BEV, which is for us a guarantee to achieve the, I would say, the scale effect and to achieve the cost competitiveness for which, of course, we are looking for as a top priority.

Speaker 20

Good. The next question is from Niccolo Andrei from Industri Italia now. Is it possible to know more about electric motor without rare earth?

Speaker 3

So I don't know what is more.

Speaker 20

Well, can you even further develop what we explained? In fact, we have been doing that for a long time.

Speaker 3

Yes. So maybe it's not a technical course. But let's say that in the market, we have mainly 2 types of ENGIE of e machine. The first is the most common using permanent magnets. So it means that you don't need to have the to enter the current into the rotor.

So this is why they have permanent magnets. And permanent magnets, you need to use rear earth. So this is all the stake and this is very expensive. And there is an alternative, which is called EESM, very complex name, where you don't need the real earth. And this is a choice we made.

Speaker 2

10 years ago. 10 years ago now.

Speaker 3

10 years ago. Yes.

Speaker 20

Right. So go back to Spain. So Javier Bataga from ECal Agency in Spain. What role will the factories of Castia and Leon play in this new electrical ecosystem? So I guess for you, Jose Felipe.

Speaker 8

Well, I think 2 months ago when we visit Spain with Luca DeMeo and Giandominis Enar, we are not very clear our strategy that Spanish plan will be focused in electrified vehicles. That's mainly SUV, PICV, including new hybrid engine, probably a new Etech for Seville. In France, it's very clear with announced our renewable electricity will be focused all the BEVs in France.

Speaker 20

Right. Next question might be the last one from Belgium. When can we from Dieter Quattier, Autonius. When can we expect solid state batteries? Are they still at least 4 years away?

Speaker 5

We are developing all solid state battery together with Nissan within Alliance. And we are partnering with academics worldwide academic startups and suppliers. We are expecting this technology to come to maturity around 230. We are following 2 parts globally. 1 is polymer based and the second one is ceramic based.

And the polymer one could come maybe earlier because some of the process is common with lithium ion. So this is quite still open, but we are working hard on it.

Speaker 20

Okay. Thank you. So I'm waiting for the next question. If there's nothing more than sorry, yes, think that's already been explained, but Professional Recycler, Martin Chartier. What about batteries recycling?

And it will be the last one, so it's a good conclusion, by the way, of all the cycle.

Speaker 6

It's the end of the life. Yes. Battery recycling, we're quite advanced again I think in battery recycling. We started almost 10 years ago with Veolia for which we have a partnership and we're using their plant in Eastern France in DUEZ, if my memory is correct, since 2013 in order to recycle batteries. Previously, the process was more on batteries from phones and computers.

So we have had or Veolia have had to adapt the process in order to recycle batteries for cars. So we have quite a lot of experience, but we're going to go even further. Today, we recycle around 60% of it through the method they have. But you've seen that we have signed another partnership to this time with Veolia and Solvay not long ago in order to go even further in the recycling rate and in the purity of the metal which is extracted so that we can reuse it so that it is at the good level to be reused in new batteries and then you close the loop where you used to have the batteries, they have a life, they have a second life, you recycle them and you put them again in the new battery. So we're quite I think we're quite leaders on that stuff together with our partners.

Speaker 2

Maybe it gives me also the chance to say that the whole thing about Mobilize Power Solutions, Refactory, Renault environment is something that we build for the whole industry, not necessarily only for Renault businesses. So we might be able, if we are quick and strong and good, to actually become a good provider for other OEMs that need a very efficient process of reusing and or recycling of the battery as the wave of 2nd life and 3rd life will come. One of the things that you have to we have to also have clear in mind is that as because we started very early, in fact, we are the first one to see battery coming back after 10 years. And this is a huge advantage of Renault because if you have introduced the cars in 2016, 'seventeen in the market, you will probably see the battery coming back in 2026, 2027, 2028, 30. We are already getting the battery back.

So we know their behavior. We have the data, but we also have the raw material to do exactly this. And this is a huge advantage.

Speaker 6

And if I may add another point. Yes, indeed, you're right, Luca. First, we have the 250,000 batteries of ZOE, which we have leased, which are going to come back. So in terms of scale and then efficiency in the process is going to be huge. And you're talking about OEM, but not only.

We have contacts with public transportation companies, which are willing for buses, for small vans, etcetera, etcetera to bring it also together. So it's going to be a full ecosystem, which we can use together with Renoir, Viable and Mobilize.

Speaker 20

Right. Thank you. It will be towards the end. Thank you very much indeed for throwing all the questions. Thanks to you all for joining us and attending the keynote and the Q and A sessions.

And stay tuned because we'll see each other soon again for new novelties. Thank you and see you soon.

Speaker 1

Bye bye.

Speaker 3

Thank you.

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