Groupe Renault launches its INCIT-EV project: The development of electromobility in Europe

Last updated on April 8th, 2020 at 07:58 pm

Groupe Renault has today announced its latest project: INCIT-EV. The multinational automaker is collaborating with 32 partners in Europe to promote electromobility via user-centric experiments of innovating charging technologies for electric vehicles.

Over a 48-month period (from January 2020 to December 2023), the company will look to experiment with different technological solutions that affect modern-day EVs.

The INCIT-EV project will be broken down into two primary phases:

• Phase 1: this will involve analysing user needs and requirements, wherein April 2020 an assessment will be carried out on charging technologies and their integration into infrastructure.
• Phase 2: this will look at exploring several tech-orientated experiments which will run from the second half of 2022 till Q4 2023.

These experiments are broken down, as follows:

1. The dynamic induction charging system in Paris, France
2. A high voltage charging systems in the outskirts of Tallinn, Estonia
3. An Optimised bidirectional smart charging unit in Amsterdam and Utrecht, the Netherlands
4. A dynamic induction charging system in Versailles, France
5. A charging hub in a carpark for car-share vehicles in Turin, Italy
6. Low voltage bidirectional charging and dynamic charging in taxi lanes in Zaragoza, Spain

Groupe Renault has identified that there is lots of work to do in the development and expansion of the charging infrastructure – it's one of the key areas that hold back consumers from adopting fully-electric vehicles. Technologies are being tested, such as Contactless Dynamic Charging (CDC) technology, which allows for EVs to be wirelessly charged; like a modern-day smartphone.

As such, the company has taken to the European Commission’s call for new projects. The French automaker isn't doing it alone, however, as a mix of 32 different companies, universities, institutes, cities, start-ups, and SMEs are feeding into the project. Their goal is to promote electric mobility in Europe.

“As Europe's pioneering electric vehicle company, Groupe Renault is known for being an innovative company that cares about customers”, says Xavier Serrier, project manager for the electric vehicle charging systems in Groupe Renault’s Research department. “The INCIT-EV project we launched is a large demonstration of user-centric urban and long-range charging solutions to boost an engaging deployment of electric vehicles in Europe.”

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This customer-facing approach will help build a new ecosystem and develop charging solutions that could potentially be rolled out across Europe at a later date. Given there is a surge of new EVs on the market, this consortium makes logical sense; it'll benefit the brand in trialling different technologies and will, in turn, help promote EVs to the general public. It's a win-win for everyone involved, and we're glad Groupe Renault has taken a liking to developing new electromobility solutions.

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