Renault EVs development takes surprising turn thanks to Ampere

November 8, 2022

Focus on EV and software technology

Ampere will develop, manufacture and sell fully electric passenger cars under the Renault brand, with advanced software-defined vehicle (SDV) technology. This is according to Renault Group’s Revolution plan. Ampere is based in France – where else? – and should grow into a full-fledged manufacturer with about 10,000 employees. As a technology company, Ampere will drive innovation with about 3,500 engineers, half of whom specialize in software.

Six models of Ampere arrive

Before 2030, Ampere should already have six electric models in its portfolio. Those models are all positioned in lucrative segments in Europe in which electric cars have a large share. Consider a car in the B segment with the new Renault 5 Electric and Renault 4 Electric, the C segment with the Megane E-tech Electric and Scénic Electric plus two more vehicles yet to be unveiled. Much of the investment of the first four vehicles has already been spent.

Ampere aims to produce about 1 million EVs for the Renault brand by 2031.

SDV, what is that?

The term “SDV” came up in this article. What exactly is that? SDV is an abbreviation for Software-Defined Vehicle. According to Renault, the SDV is the future of the automotive industry, allowing the car to be continually upgraded throughout its life cycle, learning from its users and tying the vehicle to the OEM from cradle to grave. To launch the first SDV in 2026, Renault Group has built deep partnerships with 2 major tech players, which are Qualcomm Technologies for developing powerful computing platforms and Google for smart Android-based software.

Ampere also going public?

Ampere’s annual production immediately comes to 400,000 cars, but Renault Group can still scale this up to 1 million cars annually. The goal from 2031 anyway is to produce 1 million vehicles annually. Ampera must eventually stand on its own two feet. In the second half of 2023, there are even stock market plans involving Renault Group taking a majority stake.