Portugal to start mass use of electric cars by 2011

24 November 2008

Portugal has signed an agreement with Renault and Nissan to supply and promote zero-emission electric cars by the 2011 in a bid to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by the year 2020, as proposed by the European Union in its plan to fight global warming.

As per the agreement, the Franco-Japanese joint venture of Renault and Nissan will start delivering its electric cars by early 2011. Portugal will undertake to make 320 vehicle charging locations operational across the country by 2010 and expand the number of charging stations to 1,300 by the end of 2011.

Portugal will pass a decree to ensure that one fifth of all its public fleet of vehicles bought from the year 2011 will be zero-emission.

At a time when the world is going through the motions of financial crisis and most European nations are under recession, Portugal is still committed to invest vast sums of money in clean energy and be in the forefront of implementing the highly determined EU plan to fight global warming.

Apart from EU's plan of reducing carbon emissions, Portugal has ambitious plans of its own and envisages producing up to 60 per cent of its electricity from wind, sun, wave and other clean energy sources by 2020.

Renault and Nissan who will market electric car globally by 2012, have already signed such agreements with Demark, Israel and the state of Oregon, Tennessee and Sonoma County in northern California in the US, but Portugal will be the first European nation to sign an agreement with the Franco-Japanese car company.