Groupe Renault - 2019 Universal Registration Document

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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT GROUPE RENAULT

Research into electric vehicles (EVs) With a 10-year lead over most of its competitors, Groupe Renault is both a pioneer in electric mobility and the leader in Europe. This is the result of continuous work by the Group’s teams to maintain this lead at a time when competitors are making inroads in the field, thus affirming the electric vehicle as a strategic choice. Our four priorities in this competition are: continually enriching our offer by expanding our current range of P five vehicles and introducing new products to reach eight 100% electric vehicles by 2022; increasing battery range: technology in this area is advancing at a P rapid rate. The marketing of the new ZOE at the end of 2016 with its 400km NEDC range and the Renault Medium-Term Plan, with its projected range of greater than 600km in 2022, are examples of this. Nevertheless, the choice of autonomous cars by customers will increasingly become a rational choice that will have to be covered with several different levels based on budgets and customer driving profiles; making EV technology more competitive: this involves both P reducing the cost of batteries and reducing the cost of electronic power components, which will be less expensive and less bulky while still performing better. The Renault Medium-Term Plan, with its projected reduction of 30% on the cost of batteries and 20% on the cost of electronic power components, is an example of this; developing technologies to make battery charging easier and P more efficient: the improvement of battery chargeability and the development/standardization of so-called “fast” chargers will be a key factor for the electric vehicles of the future. Research is also being carried out on inductive charging (static and dynamic) and robotic charging, which could allow users to recharge their EV batteries without having to connect an electric cable to a charger. Contactless dynamic charge: inductive electric charging on the go Renault is working on a dynamic inductive charging project, which will allow the batteries in its electric vehicles to be charged while driving. Coils of conductive materials (copper, aluminum, etc.) are inserted into the road. Powered by an alternating current, these loops emit a magnetic field that is captured by a receiving loop located under the car. When the vehicle passes over a coil beneath the road, the electromagnetic field creates an inductive electric current in the receiver coil. This inductive current is used either directly for traction or to recharge the battery. In this way, the road supplies the car with energy while driving. Driving over the coils would keep electric vehicles charged permanently and automatically. The energy can either be used for driving, in all or part, or to charge the battery. The energy transmitted to the vehicle is proportional to the time spent driving on the equipped part of the road. A stretch of test road has been developed with loops and an artificial sidewalk that conceals the electronic equipment required. Each coil is managed separately and can transfer the energy needed to the vehicle. In this experiment, the test vehicle is a Twizy, which receives 2 kW on a continuous basis. This is the first stage.

New battery technologies for electric vehicles At the end of 2018, Alliance Ventures, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi venture capital fund, announced its participation in the last financing round by Enevate Corporation. Based in Irvine (California), this company specializes in the design of lithium-ion batteries. This is the latest investment by Alliance Ventures, which was launched this year to support the most innovative start-ups in next-generation systems for the automotive industry. The silicon-dominated lithium-ion batteries developed by Enevate offer ultra-fast charging capabilities and high energy density, at a reduced cost. They could potentially offer the shortest charging time out of all of the lithium-ion battery technologies currently available on the market. Alliance Ventures has also invested in Ionic Materials, a promising US company that is developing a polymer material whose properties could contribute to the development of so-called “solid state” cells. This investment coincides with the implementation of a research and development cooperation agreement between Ionic Materials and the Alliance. Based in Massachusetts, Ionic Materials is developing a polymer material that can be used as a substitute for the liquid electrolyte in “traditional” Li-ion cells and thus help improve the performance and economic efficiency of high-energy density batteries for automotive and many other applications. Partnerships Reinventing the automobile for the twenty-first century: a low-energy consumption vehicle, considerably lighter weight, connected and able to substitute in all or part for driver activities; this is a challenge that can only be met collectively. For Renault, collaborative R&D agreements contribute to accelerating the development of the technologies required to meet these challenges, and also to developing skills and cost-sharing. Such contracts are key to speeding up the introduction of innovations into vehicle projects. Cooperation In the competitive industrial world, performance and frugality are indispensable and inseparable to continue the race at the head of the pack. To open up toward the outside world, to capture the diverse knowledge and know-how of our manufacturing and academic partners at the highest level, combining these with ours, multiplies our capacity for innovation ten-fold, and enables costs to be shared. This method of collaborative innovation is encouraged by the public financers, both French and European. Public aid, such as subsidies and repayable advances, is an additional lever that helps accelerate our innovation. In this framework, Renault has always prioritized cooperative initiatives as part of its R&AE activities. These initiatives are an effective way of expanding our strategic plan. Renault’s cooperation budget is relatively stable at a multi-year figure of €216 million and covers cooperation both in France and Europe. Cooperation provides an opportunity to share costs and to access financial assistance for faster innovation. Ongoing collaborative projects were awarded financial assistance of €8.4 million in 2019, broken down into €7.1 million in subsidies and €1.3 million in repayable advances.

80 GROUPE RENAULT I UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2019

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