28 | ELECTROMOBILITY
Renault Trucks – Sailing on with 100% Electric E-TECH
Blainville-sur-Orne, the home of Renault Trucks’ distribution and electric vehicle manufacturing, is steeped in engineering history. In fact the site was once a prominent shipyard, before being taken over by French truck company Saviem in 1956. Les Chantiers Navals Français (CNF), headquartered at the port of Caen, was founded in 1917, and ceased operations in 1954. The company mainly built merchant ships but also built destroyers and submarine s for the French Navy between 1924 and 1933 and the destroyers ORP Wicher and ORP Burza for the Polish Navy. Today the naves of the former hull workshop which were not destroyed during the Battle of Caen remain to accommodate the manufacture of trucks and cabs. DAF & Peterbilt trucks and Volvo Trucks are among the cab customers supplied from here.
FLEETTRANSPORT | APR - MAY 22
Today, 2,200 employees (and a number of robots) produce 286 cabs and 82 trucks per shift on a vast compound that covers 74 hectares, surrounded by the River Orne and canal. Each medium duty truck from the Renault D & D-Wide range, including electric powered versions (from the same family series) is made to order here, with a high percentage of them tailor-made to customer specifications. With over 1 million trucks produced in 65 years, investment in improving efficiencies has been continuous. In the last decade alone, €200 million has been directed towards making Blainville the most energy efficient and largest electric truck manufacturing plant in Europe. Renault Trucks’s green agenda has seen a reduction of water and energy by 50% in recent years, while the facility has become a self-sufficient zero landfill production site, using 100% renewable electricity. Renault Trucks is well ahead in planning targets to meet the 100% fossil free commercial vehicle sales 2040 deadline, with a continuing focus on electrification. During the last decade Renault Trucks has steadily developed and expanded its selection of electric trucks, and sales volumes reflect this rapid progress with 870 orders received in 2021. With a renewed strategy and increased ambition, the Volvo Group owned truck brand plans that 50% of its sales will be zero-emission electric vehicles by 2030 (initially it was 35%). Together with a broader
range of electric commercial vehicles (from light to medium to heavy duty), Renault Trucks, through its 1,400 strong dealer and service agent network, will provide comprehensive support for road transport operators in their transition to carbon neutrality. And so it’s goodbye to the Z.E. (Zero-Emissions) badging and hello to E-TECH. The new nomenclature
covers a broader portfolio, focusing on 3600 support for customers, from their initial purchase to monitoring the operations of their electric trucks. Other elements include financing, auxiliaries, repair and maintenance, battery charging, exchange and disposal. Regarding the product selection, the line-up covers from the 3.1 tonne Master van to the 18-26 tonne D & D-Wide models. Depending on the battery packs fitted, up to 400 kms is achievable with the trucks and over 200 km on the Master 52 kWh version. By 2023, the heavy duty Renault T & C Evolution models will also be electrified – see
