Renault confirms the Fluence Electric Vehicle

The Fluence EV will be produced at Renault's plant in Bursa, Turkey, alongside the standard petrol-engined Fluence, and Renault says the decision was made because of the plant's high quality standards, cost effectiveness and local sourcing power. This means that the Fluence EV is likely to be competitively priced when it hits markets around 2011.

The Fluence EV will be first launched in Israel and Denmark, with other markets to follow soon after. There will be three options for charging the Fluence's battery, a standard charge, a rapid charge or Renault's new "Quickdrop" option where the compact battery pack can be replaced with another when it runs out.

A Renault executive has also said that Renault and Nissan will share certain platforms for future zero-emissions cars, in order to achieve economies of scale. Nissan has already announced its own electric vehicle project, with the Leaf set to go on sale in the US, Japan and Europe next year.