ElectriCity Will Be the Largest EV Hub in Europe

• Renault is reorganizing three plants to EV production, with an aim to build 400,000 EVs a year by 2025.

• The Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz factories in northern France will be grouped together to build cars and components for future models.

• A retro-styled Renault 5 and Renault 4 will be among the next EV models from Renault, in addition to an electric Megane.

Plans for the largest EV production hub in Europe are afoot, with Renault planning to reorganize three existing factories into one giant EV production hub in the north of France. Dubbed the Renault ElectriCity, the hub will be composed of Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz plants, with work underway for all three to focus on electric vehicles in the coming years.

Under the plan the automaker's Maubeuge plant, which has been focused on vans including the Kangoo Electric, will begin production of the New Kangoo E-Tech Electric starting next year. Renault's Ruitz plant will focus on producing electrical components, while the Douai plant plans to begin production of the Mégane E-Vision later this year, to be joined soon by a new EV platform aimed at B-segment models, which are expected to include the Renault 5 hatch and Renault 4 electric SUV.

The automaker, best known in the EV world for its popular Zoe hatch in production since 2012, aims to produce 400,000 EVs a year at the ElectriCity by 2025 employing 5,000 workers, 700 of whom will be new hires and are scheduled to come on board between 2022 and 2024.