Nissan announce partnership with Europcar

Nissan and Europcar – the European leader in passenger car vehicle rentals – are forming a partnership to market electric vehicles by 2010. This partnership will see electric vehicles available for rental in France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and will be subsequently extended to other countries. Electric vehicles rentals allow extended test drive as a way to introduce drivers to the benefits of EV motoring.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has already formed partnerships with 27 governments, cities and other organizations to advance the deployment of EVs worldwide. Renault-Nissan electric vehicles will be introduced in the United States and Japan starting from 2010 and will start mass-marketing electric vehicles globally in 2012.

To date the Alliance has signed two final agreements in Europe with Portugal and the Principality of Monaco. The two agreements formulate concrete proposals - ranging from incentives and infrastructures to education pro grammes – creating the right conditions for mass availability and acceptance of electric vehicles. Further EV initiatives have begun in Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama in Japan, as well as in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Monaco, UK, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China.
In the United States, the Alliance is working on Electric Vehicles infrastructure in Tennessee, Oregon, Sonoma County and San Diego in California, Tucson and Phoenix in Arizona, Seattle in Washington, and Raleigh, North Carolina.