Renault-Nissan announces Oregon to host EV pilot program

Nissan's electric vehicle (EV) involvement in Project Better Place programs in Denmark and Israel, plus test fleets in its home market of Japan will be joined by a new agreement with the state of Oregon and the Portland General Electric Utility according to an announcement made by Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault-Nissan. The new deal will have cars hitting the streets of Oregon in late 2010.

In addition to the programs mentioned above, Renault-Nissan is also working with Tennessee, where the company's U.S. headquarters and production facilities are located. Like the Tennessee deal, the Oregon project is designed to raise the profile of the electric cars while also helping to work out ways to develop the infrastructure necessary to support widespread EV use. The Oregon project isn't specifically involved with the Project Better Place initiative, but Renault-Nissan's involvement in so many similar projects will likely share the benefits across them all.

Speaking of the Oregon deal at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week, Ghosn said, "Together, we are creating conditions that will encourage consumers to consider an electric vehicle as an attractive choice that is also good for the environment."

A network of charging stations to support the fleet of EVs in the Portland area will be built under the agreement. This latest agreement with Oregon is another step in what is rapidly becoming a thoroughly global network of such projects for Nissan. Other automakers, including Mini, Honda and Mitsubishi are also experimenting with varying levels of test markets for electric and fuel-cell vehicles, working to build awareness and the necessary fueling and charging stations to help roll out the next generation of the automobile.

The Renault-Nissan/Project Better Place alliance announced it would be building a similar project in Melbourne, Australia late last month as well.