French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that the French government will earmark $550 million of state funds over the next four years to subsidize the development and construction of “carbon-free” cars, Deutsche Welle reports.
In addition, Renault-Nissan and PSA Peugeot Citroen signed separate agreements with Electricité de France, Europe's leading electricity producer and owner of the world's biggest fleet of electric vehicles.
Renault-Nissan and EDF will work together to make the automaker a leading manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles from 2011. In the long term, the alliance will set up an Electric Mobility Operator to supply customers with the infrastructure to recharge an electric vehicle and to manage its range.
PSA and EDF will partner to establish programs to support the development of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
