Electric vehicles and renewable energies in the automotive industry: the case of Renault

Abstract: Growing environmental consciousness and awareness of the fact that something has to be done to curb carbon emissions and consequent global warming mitigation is having a big impact on international business. The Automotive industry is one of the industries most affected, in that private transport emissions are major contributors to most countries‟ carbon emission profile. In this connection, the electric vehicle (in various forms) is emerging as a major alternative to the traditional internal combustion engine powered vehicles. Electric vehicles have caught the attention of both incumbent companies and start-ups from all over the world, as well as companies offering new business models for provision of infrastructure; in many cases, governments are giving subsidies to stimulate the growth of this sector, to counter-balance extensive subsidies already supplied to the fossil fuel industries. This Thesis examines the phenomenon of the rise of electric vehicles from four perspectives. In the first I analyze the potential market for these vehicles that will be commercialized in the coming years and how the production value chain will be structured, using the Porter‟s five forces and the Global Value Chain frameworks. In the second part I evaluate the question whether a dominant design is emerging in the batteries‟ technology and whether electric vehicles are likely to constitute a technological discontinuity and, if so, how they might break with the technological lock-in that currently constraint the industry. In the third part I investigate to what extent, the introduction of electric vehicles will impact on the electric utility business, placing pressure on electric power suppliers to switch to greener sources. Finally, I present the case of Renault, a company that is developing, a complete range of fully electric vehicles in partnership with Nissan, and is doing this by linking itself with utility companies, institutions and also new start-ups with novel business plans such as Project Better Place. The thesis reaches the conclusion that electric vehicles will indeed constitute a major rupture for the automotive industry, facilitating the entry of major new players. Keywords: electric vehicle, lock-in, dominant design, government policy, V2G vehicle to grid, Renault, Renault-Nissan, Project Better Place.