Renault-Nissan's Ghosn eyes $8,000 EV for China

Renault-Nissan's Ghosn eyes $8,000 EV for China

Renault-Nissan's low-cost electric-car program is aiming to sell an EV in China for about $8,000, CEO Carlos Ghosn said today.

Speaking at the New York Times Energy for Tomorrow conference in Paris, Ghosn said the ultimate goal was to sell battery cars in that price bracket without any subsidies.

"What we want to do is bring a $7,000-8,000 electric car without incentives," he said.

"If we are able to make this kind of breakthrough, it's going to change the game," Ghosn added.

Renault and alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. have said they will develop an affordable EV for China because the alliance's current offering, the rebadged Nissan Leaf, is too expensive for the local market.

Nissan sold just 1,273 units of the Venucia e30, a local version of the Leaf, in China last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The car starts at 242,800 yuan ($36,900).

China's EV market has been driven by substantial subsidies from the government, which has said it wants five million electric and plug-in-hybrid vehicles on the road by 2020.