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radical #2: Interview Cléa Martinet

‘As a carmaker, you sometimes have to choose paths that are not popular’

Life is no bed of roses. Regulations (from Brussels) have become very strict, especially for car manufacturers. But customers have also long expected more than just a little hot air and fine words when it comes to environmental protection, recycling and the circular economy. Cléa Martinet, Director of Sustainability at the Renault Group and its subsidiary Ampere, has a strict regime in place in all these areas. The new mother knows what she is talking about – and what still needs to be done.

radical: The Renault Group has set itself the goal of becoming climate-neutral in Europe by 2040 and worldwide by 2050. What do you have to do now to achieve this?

Cléa Martinet: As a carmaker, and that includes the Renault Group, we have identified four main areas on which we are focusing and for which we have developed comprehensive CO2 reduction programmes: 1. The procurement of materials; 2. Production in the plants; 3. The product’s usage phase; 4. The recycling phase. In 2022, we reached our first milestone: we were able to reduce the carbon footprint per vehicle by 25 per cent compared to 2010, but of course that didn’t make us complacent.

radical: Where do you see the big levers in these areas to achieve carbon neutrality?

Martinet: Our biggest lever is in the usage phase. On average, a thermal vehicle’s usage emissions account for about 90 percent of its carbon footprint. By switching to electric vehicles, we solve a large part of the problem, even if the battery is the new challenge in decarbonisation. That’s why we’ve created Ampere, our business unit that focuses entirely on electric vehicles in line with the EU Green Deal, to prepare for the ban on combustion engines in 2035. In addition to the electrification of our vehicles, we are also reducing the carbon footprint of our plants. Our production site, ElectriCity, will have a net zero carbon footprint next year, thanks in part to our French electricity partner Voltalia, which supplies solar energy. Finally, we have been able to use more environmentally friendly materials in production (materials with a lower carbon footprint, including batteries). And since it is impossible to achieve zero emissions as a manufacturing industry, the remaining 10 per cent will come from emissions offsets.

radical: The ACEA board, CEO Luca de Meo and – I assume – you too are in favour of a cradle-to-grave approach to setting CO2 targets for Europe. What would that entail?

Martinet: Right. It is a life cycle approach that allows for comprehensive decarbonisation from conception to end of life. We believe it is the more holistic approach that ends up having an even greater effect for the planet. It means that technology could develop alternative approaches for all-electric or hydrogen-electric powertrains while continuing to lower the carbon equation overall. A cradle-to-grave consideration encompasses the entire lifecycle, including emissions associated with the manufacturing of materials, the energy/fuel used in the car, recycling processes and manufacturing footprint. This approach of technology neutrality is essential if we are to find a pragmatic route to achieving our overall reduction targets.

radical: When we look at the new EV value chain, the topics of battery production, procurement and disposal are important. How do you see the impact of these topics?

Martinet: Ampere is the Renault Group unit for the development and production of electric vehicles. Ampere develops electric vehicles for Alpine, Renault, Dacia and Mobilize. Within Ampere, the teams are continuously working to improve the carbon footprint of our EV batteries. We recently announced that we will be introducing a new battery technology. In addition to nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) batteries, we will offer batteries with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology. Ampere is working closely with its suppliers LG Energy Solution and CATL to develop an integrated value chain on the European continent, integrating LFP technology for its vehicles manufactured in Europe from partner plants in Hungary (CATL) and Poland (LG Energy Solutions). The NCM batteries will come from Verkor (Gigafactory in Dunkerque near Douai) and AESC (Douai) in France. Overall, we want to reduce the CO2 footprint of the batteries by 35 per cent by 2030 – compared to ZOE in 2020.

radical: That sounds highly ambitious. What measures do you plan to take to achieve this goal?

Martinet: We will relocate battery production to France, with the launch of the Gigafactory next to our EV production plant in the north of France, in Douai, where the Renault Megane, Scenic, R5 and Alpine A290 are already produced, so that short transport distances are an important element. Responsible sourcing of materials and the use of recycled materials will further reduce the carbon footprint of our traction batteries in the vehicles. We have signed memorandums of understanding with major mining companies that offer low-carbon minerals: Terrafame for nickel, Arverne and Vulcan for lithium, for example. My next point is not quite related to this, but did you know that Renault is a pioneer in the field of electric drives that do not require rare earths – and has been for 10 years?

radical: Renault has increased the proportion of recycled material in its cars to 24-27 per cent with the Scenic/R5, etc. Is this proportion more expensive than ‘virgin materials’? Is it complicated to source high-quality materials that support the quality targets? What are the targets in this area?

Martinet: Our overall objective as the Renault Group is to have 33% of the vehicle weight made from recycled materials by 2030 and 40% of the Renault brand cockpit. This is quite ambitious and should not be confused with the recyclability of the car produced, which is of course now over 95%.

radical: Renault cars will be ‘leather-free’ and they will have a speed limit of 180 km/h. Will all consumers agree with these measures?

Martinet: Hopefully so. As a carmaker, you sometimes have to take the unpopular path because of your responsibilities – the speed limit, for example. Our CEO, Luca de Meo, deliberately limited the speed to 180 km/h because speed is the main cause of fatal accidents on European roads. The same applies to leather: when you know that leather is one of the main causes of deforestation, recycled or biologically produced alternatives make much more sense.

radical: The Renault Group is a leader in the circular economy. What do you think are the biggest successes and challenges in this area?

Martinet: The Renault Group has always been a pioneer of the circular economy in the automotive sector. With ‘Future is Neutral’, we want to offer recycling services and materials to other companies as well. One of the challenges is to coordinate the many specialised technology companies operating in this area and to create a sustainable, European-based industry around the end-of-life of vehicles and batteries. And the one challenge I would mention is, of course, progress in closed-loop recycling: reusing the recycled materials for the same new part (where it comes from), e.g. battery materials going back into battery production.

radical: Can we repeat this interview in 10 years? I have a feeling that by then we will have so many developments to report on.

Martinet: Absolutely, let’s plan for that – it should be interesting.

This exclusive interview is part of the Renault supplement in our print edition of radical #2. You can find the table of contents here.

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