Future Plans for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

In May 2020, the Renault-Nissan-Alliance shared its revised plans for Alliance 2025. The plan was to have Mitsubishi Motors lead the pack with a new model set for release, but instead, Mitsubishi backed out of Europe, only to get a helping hand from Renault with a rebadge for Mitsubishi. We’re still waiting on that new model, and aside from the XFC Concept High-Performance SUV by Mitsubishi at the Vietnam Motor Show 2022, the automaker seems keen to keep stroking the ego of its current lineup, like the Outlander PHEV and new standard features. In March 2022, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance returned with plans called “Alliance 2030”, and it looks like we’re finally getting somewhere with electric vehicle (EV) development and software-defined vehicles.

EV Development

In May 2022, to get a jump on EV production, Renault proposed to the other two automakers in the group the idea to invest into and built a new company (called Ampere) with a new facility dedicated to EV production. It’s not a horrible idea to split the time and energy between the gasoline models still in production and start a new company with its own host of workers (new jobs) to focus on EVs. It will be responsible for 90-percent of all future EVs to be produced on one of five platforms. Nissan is onboard, but Mitsubishi Motors is slow to act on this due to the large investment it will take. Renault and Nissan Motor Co. have cross-shareholdings in each other, and Nissan has a controlling 34-percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors, so the automaker may have to jump on board soon enough.

The new five EV platforms will be an extension of the platforms already used on several Alliance models – the popuar global option, the CMF-EV; and the more affordable option, the CMF-AEV. Three more platforms will be developed and become the underpinning of at least 15 new models by 2030. The first new platform, the CMF-BEV is already looking impressive with a 250-mile all-electric range (AER). Over the next few years, we’ll be seeing a new centralized electrical and electronic (EE) architecture to bring optimal performance to EVs by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.

Self-Driving Car Technology

What automaker isn’t working on this? Today, more than 1.5 million Alliance car units (24 models) are equipped with autonomous car tech, but it’s more focused on Level 2 and Level 3. Level 4 and Level 5 are the end goal for any automaker trying to develop self-driving vehicles. By 2026, the number of vehicles should expand to 45 models across the Alliance. Mitsubishi Motors has actually been working on its own self-driving with its subsidiary Mitsubishi Electric since 2017. Called a “Mobile Mapping System”, Mitsubishi updated this tech in 2020. They then expanded this further with Maisart (Mitsubishi Electric’s AI) to be scene aware and added a virtual assistant to inform drivers about their surroundings, like whether a pedestrian is crossing or an accident is coming up ahead on the road.

Software-Defined Vehicles

There are some connected car technology services also on the menu, but there isn’t a lot of information on that at the moment. At the moment, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance has its own data cloud, called the “Alliance Cloud” that is connected to more than 3 million vehicles, with the number to rise to 5 million by 2026. The major advancement will be to SDVs. Thanks to a partnership with Google, future Alliance vehicles will be operated by a Google operating system (OS). Now a Mitsubishi with Google software sounds like a cool thing, and we should be seeing this no later than 2025.

Let’s have some patience and see what the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance comes up with. Follow along with us on University Mitsubishi social media.

Photo Source/Copyright: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi