Renault-Nissan, EDF in electric car partnership

The Renault-Nissan alliance added another country to its growing list of locations for its upcoming line of electric vehicles, announcing today that it signed a deal with electric utility EDF to bring the zero emission cars to France in 2011.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance, comprised of France's Renault and Japan's Nissan Motor (Nasdaq: NSANY), plans to jointly develop an infrastructure with Paris-based EDF to recharge electric vehicles and to manage the range of the cars.

"To reconcile the demand for individual mobility with the preservation of the environment and high cost of oil, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is committed to the development of 'zero-emission' vehicles," said Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Renault and president and CEO of Nissan, in a statement.

Renault-Nissan said the commercial project is open to other interested parties, and at least one startup has already expressed interest in joining the French initiative.

Shai Agassi, CEO and founder of Palo Alto, Calif.-based electric vehicle charging company Project Better Place, said, "Better Place will closely review the latest developments in France and look to partner with Renault, EDF and others to develop a pan-European electric vehicle network."

Project Better Place is already working with Renault-Nissan on deals in Israel and Denmark.

The French project could also get some support from the goverment, which owns 85 percent of EDF and 15 percent of Renault. President Nicolas Sarkozy today pledged €400 million in state support for the development of electric and hybrid cars in the country.

In addition to Israel, Denmark, and now France, the Renault-Nissan Alliance has also made deals to bring its electric vehicles to Portugal, the state of Tennessee in the U.S., and the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan (see Electric vehicles in the spotlight).