The Renault 5 Soon Available for Car Sharing

Beautiful Renault 5 available through car sharing and capable of feeding the public electrical grid thanks to their V2G technology! But not in France…

An agreement signed yesterday at the Dutch Embassy in Paris plans to deploy a fleet of 500 Renaults in Utrecht, headed by the iconic Renault 5. Utrecht, already at the forefront of renewable energy in Europe, has 35% of its rooftops equipped with solar panels and has launched a major plan to democratize access to shared electric mobility while utilizing bidirectional charging to balance the urban electrical grid. This is far from the autophobe initiatives of major French cities, and perhaps this is the reason why this initiative isn’t launched in France.

These cars, offered via the MyWheels car-sharing service, will incorporate V2G technology (Vehicle-to-Grid) developed by Mobilize, Renault Group’s branch dedicated to new mobility solutions. This technology, used for the first time on a public scale, will allow 500 vehicles to provide up to 10% of the necessary energy flexibility in the Utrecht region, helping to manage peak consumption related to solar and wind energy use. Users will be able not only to charge their vehicles with green energy but also to return electricity to the grid during high demand. This will help stabilize the network, incorporate more renewable energy sources, and reduce overall electricity costs. The initiative also includes the deployment of the first public bidirectional AC chargers, developed to fully exploit Mobilize’s V2G capabilities. All to Utrecht’s benefit, which, serving as a testing ground, receives state-of-the-art equipment almost free of charge.

In the long term, the fleet could be expanded with models such as the Renault 4 E-Tech Electric, Mégane E-Tech Electric, and Scénic E-Tech Electric. Mobilize’s V2G technology will enable these vehicles to connect to public infrastructure and the services offered by We Drive Solar, thus strengthening large-scale energy resilience.

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