Renault’s Normandy plant opens the production line for the 160 kW ePT of the Megane E-Tech! The opportunity for Automobile Propre to go to Cléon to participate in its inauguration.
Well-informed reader, you know that Renault Cléon and electric vehicles are not all new. For 7 years now – since 2015 – the site has been manufacturing electric motors and cultivating its expertise in this field. Renault Group has even invested more than 620 million euros in Cléon since 2018. As a result, in July 2022, the site is ready to industrialize the group’s 100% hybrid electric engines. Short day in immersion.
Renault Cléon: a little background
The Renault plant in Cléon is none other than the main manufacturing site for the manufacturer’s engines and gearboxes. It was in 1958 that the first machine was commissioned and produced the very first part. A box sync hub! At the time, Cléon had 374 employees dedicated to the Renault Dauphine gearbox. In 2022, the huge 155-hectare site will bring together nearly 3,600 employees, 14% of whom are women. In addition to foundry, machining, winding, and even impregnation, the site has been ramping up on electric power since 2015. This is in line with the conversion to electric power launched in 2012 by Renault. And as the industrial director of Renault Groupe, Jose Vicente de los Mozos, reminds us: “Cléon is the perfect example of the group’s industrial transformation towards electric vehicles”.
Today, Renault Cléon has no fewer than 98 million thermal engines and gearboxes rolled off its production lines. The group plans, unsurprisingly, an energy mix in favor of electrified vehicles. More concretely, to go from less than 40% electric in 2021, to 80% by 2030. To do this, Cléon has just completed the redevelopment of 8,000 m² for the new production line. Electrification coupled with great ambitions, and a clear path for the 9 vehicles planned between 2022 and 2024. As a reminder, until then we had 2 electrified engines: the 5AX (ZE range) and the 5 DH (E-Tech hybrid range ). This year, it is therefore the 6AM electric motor of the Renault Megane E-Tech which is entering mass production.
From the Megane E-Tech to the future R5
The 5AX has been fitted to the current Renault Zoe since 2015. The 5DH, an in-house “e-motor”, has been providing electric assistance on Renault hybrid units since 2021. The new 6AM in the Renault Megane E-Tech will be “ePT -160 kW” for close friends from July 2022. The Group is already planning to start the 6AK ePT-100 kW of the future electric R5 in 2024. And to go even further, a 7A in partnership with Valeo will start in 2027. So many projects that drive the point home as to the legitimacy of the Cléon site on electricity. The new ePT-160 production line has four assembly lines and two winding lines dedicated to electrical. The objective: to produce up to 120,000 motors per year, and 240,000 per year in the long term. Thomas Denis, director of the plant, is enthusiastic: “by 2025, the plant will triple its capacity to manufacture electric motors! “.
Jose Vicente de los Mozos confirms: “the objective is a capacity of 500,000 units per year by 2024”. Concerned regarding employment, we still asked a few questions. The manufacture of an electric motor requires absolutely fewer people than for a heat engine. Will there be consequences on the number of employees? The management reassures us: there would be no impact to be expected, because other positions are linked to the engines. Like everything related to power electronics, for example. And that’s not to mention that there will be several models of electric motors, “rest assured, our employees are staying with us”. With 4 new electric motors in less than 5 years, we count on it! It should also be noted that the rate of manufacturing automation is estimated at 60% on the lines dedicated to electricity. An average that leaves 40% of interventions and human operations, essential.
Renault E-Mobility Academy: continuous electrical training
And not as an alternative. You have it ? In short. Still with a view to electrification over the long term, Renault Cléon is committed to developing its employees. A “Renault E-Mobility Academy” training center therefore welcomes employees directly to the Cléon site. The objective: to train in all assembly positions of an electric motor. The “trainees”, in groups of 6 for effective support, spend 70% of their time on the machines. Practical work to detect potential faults and their causes, but also to master manual winding as well as automated winding of stators and rotors. Renault announces training courses of 19 days for a driver/machine operator, and 21 days for an engineer. The Group is also working to be able to make these continuing education and retraining courses leading to a diploma.
As you will have understood, the Renault plant in Cléon is more than ever a pillar of the French manufacturer’s ElectriCity division. From the production of 100% electric motors to the training of employees, the Normandy plant is ready for the Group’s energy conversion. The association with partners such as Valeo for the 7A engine will also contribute to the Group’s economic development, in particular through the sale of expertise and technology to other players in the industry. In the words of Jose Vicente de los Mozos: “Cleon is our factory with electric ambitions, quite simply”. All that remains is to cut the ribbon!