Renault’s electric vehicles order book is up by 50 per cent in some markets, such as France and Germany, since the Iran war started, Renault Group CEO Francois Provost told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
Provost said Renault had no problems in terms of sourcing batteries but the company was having to work hard to keep up with demand for electric vehicles, and it was 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 automaker 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 per cent to almost 1 million units.
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 automaker’s CEO said that in the medium-term he would like Chinese battery maker Envision AESC to start making lithium-iron-phosphate batteries at its plant in Douai.
LFP batteries are much cheaper than traditional EV batteries and do not use cobalt and nickel and now dominate the EV market in China.
Batteries often make up to half the cost of an EV, so switching to LFP batteries would enable Renault to sell more affordable electric cars to consumers.
