We hadn’t hear much from the principality, save for the outlandish Venturi Fetish electric vehicle, EV and their newer Volage a direct competitor to the Tesla Roadster.The gist is that Monaco is looking ahead into the future by testing EVs with different partners and wants to be in the limelight of the electric drive.
Mitsubishi iMiEV Testing. After a successful round of testing its iMiEV in Monaco in December 2008, Mitsubishi has signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU regarding fleet testing of Mitsubishi iMiEV, and derivatives in the principality. Monaco wants to have a fleet of EVs that emits the lowest amount of CO2 possible. It’s equally interesting that Monaco also houses some of the most prestigious supercars in its garages.
According to EVWorld, the idea is to monitor “real-life” daily usage of EVs in Europe, while fine-tuning their technical specifications. A sort of testbed, if you wish.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance In Monaco. But Mitsubishi is not the only one knocking on the Principality of Monaco. The Renault-Nissan Alliance announced a comprehensive partnership on March 26 to have its EVs on the city’s streets. The EVs will be supplied by the Alliance, as well as an extensive charging network built across the Principality over the next 2 years, according to FinChannel. This makes Monaco the 2nd European country to sign a firm agreement with the Alliance. The city will receive an extension from 176 to 300 stations by 2011 of the existing charging network, as well as 3 quick charge stations.
Monaco, The Modern Car City. The city is aggressively mandating 50% of its public fleet vehicle be zero-emission, as early as 2011. Who knows what will happen in a decade. Will we see EVs roaming the streets instead of Ferraris and Rolls Royces? Chance are.