Tucson Regional Government Group Signs Onto Nissan-Renault EV Promotion Plan
By John O'Dell March 6, 2009Adding another name to its list of target communities for sales of its upcoming electric vehicle, the Renault-Nissan Alliance today said it has signed an agreement with an Arizona regional government association to promote development of an EV charging network in the Tucson metro area.
Nissan has said it will introduce an electric vehicle in the U.S. next year and plans a global rollout of Nissan branded EVs in 2012.
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Nissan was testing this EV, a version of the Cube, in Japan last year but says its retail model will be a new design.
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The agreement with the Pima Association of Governments, which represents the Tucson metro area, calls for the region's governmental agencies to promote and assist in "the development, operation and maintenance " of a public EV charging network.
That typically is done by encouraging zoning and permit policies that allow installation of chargers on public and private properties
A private electric transportation and power storage company, Ecotality Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz., is part of the partnership and will assist in installation of the EV chargers and coordination of various government policies affecting EV charging systems, Nissan said.
The automaker has agreed to "assist" the government association and its member agencies in acquiring electric vehicles - language that likely means the company will sell or lease them its EVs at discounted rates.
Nissan works with its French partner, Renault, though the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which has begun zero emission vehicle initiatives alone and with other partners in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Monaco, Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture and the City of Yokohama, French electric utility company EDF, and two private British firms, the car-rental company Greentomatocars, and zero-emission transport system company Elektromotive.
In the U.S., the Alliance is participating in electric car partnerships with the states of Tennessee and Oregon, the County of Sonoma in California, and now the Tucson regional government group, to explore ways to promote zero-emission vehicles and development of an electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
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