Renault’s electric vehicle (EV) order book is up 50% in some markets, such as France and Germany, since the Iran war started, Renault Group CEO Francois Provost said in an interview on Wednesday.
Provost said Renault has no problems in terms of sourcing batteries but the company is having to work hard to keep up with demand for EVs and is setting up a task force to tackle this matter.
“We’re currently exceeding the capacity [of our suppliers] because of the war in Iran,” he said.
The French carmaker is also considering adding more production shifts in the second half of the year at its EV factories at Douai and Maubeuge in France and Novo Mesto in Slovenia, Provost said.
Demand for EVs has surged across Europe as high fuel prices linked to the Iran war boosted interest in both new and second-hand EVs.
In the first four months of the year, sales of fully electric cars in Europe jumped 29% to almost 1-million units.
The Renault 5 is one of the EVs currently offered by the French carmaker. (Supplied)
Provost said that when the Iran war does end and fuel prices do come down, the intense level of interest in EVs “will decrease”, but the pace of the shift to electric will continue to accelerate.
“We have already revised our assumptions” for EV sales, Provost said.
The French carmaker’s CEO said that in the medium-term he would like Chinese battery maker Envision AESC to start making lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries at its plant in Douai.
LFP batteries are much cheaper than traditional EV batteries, do not use cobalt and nickel, and now dominate the EV market in China.
Batteries often make up almost half the cost of an EV, so switching to LFP batteries would enable Renault to sell more affordable electric cars to consumers.
Reuters