Ampere to make five non-Renault models

The number of vehicles that Ampere, the all-electric arm of French OEM Renault, will make for affiliated non-Renault brands has risen to five. But all third parties remain inextricably linked to Renault, rather than genuine third parties.

Ampere will make the A390 fastback on its AmpR Medium platform and the A290 hatchback city car, to be manufactured at its Douai plant, on its AmpR Small platform for Renault’s own Alpine premium brand.

It will also develop both a compact and an A-segment BEV for Japan’s Nissan, and a C-segment SUV — also made in Douai from 2025 on AmpR Medium — for its peer Mitsubishi. Nissan and Mitsubishi are the other members of Renault’s global alliance.

Renault says that Nissan’s decision to add the A-segment model to its already planned compact offering “demonstrates Ampere’s strong position as a tech platform for major brands”. This may be so, but it has yet to be verified by an OEM fully independent of Renault links, despite Renault talking up the attraction of its A-segment possibilities and rumours of interest from Germany's Volkswagen in using the architecture.

Chinese learnings

The French firm is, though, taking a discernibly different approach to China collaboration compared to, for example, Stellantis, owner of the French Citroen and Peugeot brands. While Stellantis has taken an equity stake in China’s Leapmotor and signed a joint venture deal to bring Leapmotor BEVs to Europe, Renault is taking the route of trying to itself bring learnings from China to Europe.

Ampere highlights its reliance on a dedicated entity called Advanced China Development Center, which works “very closely” with Chinese partners, to speed up in the development of its EVs. “The ambition of having such an integrated team there is to learn from the ecosystem on development processes and get the most of it both for Ampere and Renault Group teams,” the firm says.

It provides no details around who the partners on the new entity might be, although it seems reasonable to assume than China’s Dongfeng — which makes the Spring BEV for Renault’s Dacia brand in a joint venture (JV) with the French OEM and Nissan — may be involved. Renault also collaborates with Chinese battery firms including AESC, Catl and Sunwoda.

“We have designed Ampere to deliver unique technology and customer experience, to catch up with the best in a record time,” says Luca de Meo, CEO of both Renault and its Ampere arm. “The major advancements made by Ampere in just one year prove that it is definitely the most substantiated response of Europe’s auto industry to new competitors coming from the East and the West.”

The firm’s approach to learning from China sees it promising to deliver in 2026 what it dubs the first European software-defined vehicle (SDV) on its Flexevan platform. This, Amepere says, is proof of the “validity of its horizontal approach, allowing to reduce costs while keeping the IP of what is core”.

It has been working on SDVs with software heavyweights such as Google and Qualcomm. Last month, Flexis, a JV between Renault, Sweden’s Volvo Group and French logistics form CMA CGM, displayed the concept of a new Estafette e-van built on the Flexevan SDV architecture.

New batteries

Ampere also has big ambitions on battery innovation. It aims to get lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, chemistry into its vehicles by 2026. It has also prioritised cell-to-pack technologies, which it again hopes to deliver by 2026, and is working on cell-to-chassis.

And, by 2028, Ampere aims to “deliver the next technology leap in chemistry with cobalt-free batteries”, combining the energy density of nickel manganese cobalt (NMC), the cost and safety of LFP, and less than 15-minute charging.

“It foreshadows our objective to double around 2030 the energy density of NCM thanks to a cobalt-free cathode and a Li-metal anode applied to a structural solid state battery,” Ampere says.

And the firm is hoping to have caught up with Chinese competitors before the end of the decade. “Our next generation of C-segment EVs will offer in 2028 the best efficiency thanks to a breakthrough in energy integration, thermal management and embedding other new technologies such as our third generation of rare-earth free motor,” it promises.

“With these cars, Ampere plans to be at the best level of the competition and catch-up two generations in one.” The firm also says it is “on track with its 40pc cost reduction roadmap between the first and second generation of C-segment electric vehicles by 2028”.

In the nearer future, Renault’s Twingo BEV city car is “on track” to be developed in less than 2 years for a selling price under €20,000 ($21,700). And its B-segment all-electric Renault 5 is “well advanced to be manufactured in less than 10 hours in its Ampere ElectriCity hub”.

ElectriCity is the name Ampere is giving to its northern French cluster of three production plants at Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz, and its Cleon facility for e-powertrains. It will produce all of Renault’s Megane, Scenic 4 and 5 E-Tech Electrics.

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