Groupe Renault Introduces “Mobilize” Brand For Sustainable Mobility Systems

Groupe Renault has introduced its new “Mobilize” brand to target customers wanting to adopt more sustainable, or shared forms of mobility. This is one of the business units unveiled by the French carmaker as part of its “Renaulution” strategy.

Mobilize will address new needs and promote sustainable energy ecosystems, in line with Groupe Renault’s target of carbon neutrality and ambition to develop value from the circular economy. To achieve this, Mobilize will look at new ways of transporting people and goods, either with or without a car. At the same time, the new mobility system aims to meet the expectations of end customers, companies, cities, and regional authorities.

The Mobilize unit will bring together Groupe Renault’s activities in mobility, energy, and data-related solutions while leveraging expertise from RCI Bank and Services. It will help foster partnerships and brand-new open ecosystems to bring significant advantages in timing and scaling-up, while also helping to solve the major challenges faced by the automotive industry:

• Reduce the gap between car usage and cost as cars are currently left unused 90% of the time.
• Improve residual value to prevent the value of new vehicles from falling by over 50% after 3 years.
• Contribute to a zero CO2 footprint target.

“We are very excited to embrace the disruption of the automotive world shifting from ownership to usage, whenever and wherever you need it. Beyond automotive, Mobilize will offer a wide array of innovative services in the mobility, energy and data fields. With a variety of partners, our goal is to maximize car usage with simplified, more sustainable and accessible mobility journeys for people and goods, while reducing the environmental impact.” said Clotilde Delbos, CEO, Mobilize Brand.

Mobilize involves providing flexible mobility services for people and goods, adapted to the evolving expectations of customers, corporates, and municipalities. It has to address real-life issues and provide seamless solutions that are complementary to traditional models of car ownership. By promoting higher usage of goods through circular and sharing economies, the Mobilize system will thus contribute to a more sustainable future.

Mobilize plans to use the potential available at the over 6,000 Renault dealerships in Europe to offer mobility solutions, ranging from one minute of use to several years. It will also further leverage its existing portfolio of innovative mobility and energy start-ups to help co-create the best solutions for its customers.

As Group Renault has the expertise in vehicle design and manufacturing, including electric vehicles, Mobilize can capitalise on this competitive advantage to provide purpose-designed vehicles for its mobility services.

Furthermore, Mobilize can benefit from dedicated engineering and design teams to propose a range of purpose-designed vehicles. Intended for heavy use, modular, robust, and 100% electric, these vehicles will fulfill the most critical needs of new mobility: car sharing, ride-hailing, last mile delivery and on-demand transit.

As part of a larger group, Mobilize can levarage on the Renault Software Factory, the Software République and other partners to develop leading-edge algorithms and data processing software, allowing better prediction of user-side demand and better vehicle allocation. This is to help increase the rate of car usage by at least 20%.

To ease fleet acquisitions of its vehicles, Mobilize will work with RCI Bank and Services, its privileged partner, to provide financing services and solution such as subscriptions, leases or pay-as-you-go.

A sustainable mobility ecosystem also means that proper maintenance and recycling services for car-sharing fleets need to be widely available. When the vehicles are no longer fit for use, they will be taken care of by the maintenance and recycling services at the Renault Re-Factory. When batteries of electric vehicles are no longer fit for automotive use, Mobilize will recycle them, giving them a second life as a stationary energy source.

Mobilize will leverage on Groupe Renault’s strong EV expertise, notably in battery lifetime value management. It is developing an energy ecosystem complete with smart charging solutions and energy storage solutions. With these, Mobilize will be able to commit to carbon neutrality, a circular economy and extended vehicle life cycle.

To further enhance electric mobility, Mobilize will offer solutions to facilitate EV uptake. Hence, Mobilize is developing a charging pass for customers to easily locate public charging points and to pay with a single payment solution Europe-wide. For EV and PHEV fleet customers, Mobilize will work through its subsidiary Elexent to offer easy access to charging infrastructure solutions throughout Europe.

To start off its shared mobility plan, Mobilize has developed the EZ-1 Prototype. It embodies the brand’s design vision i.e. service at the heart of vehicle design. The Mobilize EZ-1 Prototype is a new urban mobility solution that is designed for shared use. As such, it will be commercialised in an innovative way where users will only pay for what they use, either in driving time or mileage. This will be a connected vehicle and will come with keyless access and smartphone interaction.

The Mobilize EZ-1 Prototype is a compact and agile electric vehicle for 2 persons, meant to be used in urban centres. Its architectural model means the vehicle is only 2.3 metres long and has a minimal footprint. Top-to-bottom glass doors give EZ-1 Prototype users an unhindered view of the surroundings. It is built according to circular economy principles i.e. made with 50% recycled materials and up to 95% recyclable at the end of its lifecycle thanks to the Flins Re-Factory.

The vehicle features an innovative battery exchange system which provides an alternative to the traditional charging infrastructure. This means the vehicle can be used without the usual downtime allocated for charging.

“Mobilize EZ-1 Prototype is a mobility device that will blend in with the city. Agile, dynamic and inclusive, it is emblematic of the new Mobilize brand. It accompanies users in their lifestyle change towards more efficient and responsible mobility.” said Patrick Lecharpy, Mobilize Design Director.

Watch the Renault Mobilize concept video: https://youtu.be/9SWepjT5sz0

The Mobilize EZ-1 Prototype: https://youtu.be/mthHLeEGtHE