Electric Car Charging Line

A production line for charging stations for electric cars was inaugurated at the Lacroix factory in Beaupréau-en-Mauges, with a capacity of 65,000 units per year, including innovative bidirectional versions.

A bidirectional terminal allows you to recharge a vehicle while sending electricity to the network, for example in your home or in the public network.

“It is the intelligence of our system which will decide when it will charge or when it will discharge to help the electricity network pass peaks” in consumption, explained Éric Feunteun, operational director Software République of the group Renault.

“If electricity is very expensive and very carbon-intensive, the car will discharge itself to power the dishwasher. Later in the night, it will be able to charge,” added Mr.Feunteun, stressing that the “only constraint” will be to indicate on the application the time when you will need to have your car charged.

The first car to be produced in France bidirectionally must be "the R5 which will be released in September", according to the same source.

In addition to the bidirectional terminal, the production, also developed by members of the Software République which brings together for this project Orange, Renault, STMicroelectronics and Thales, will also concern classic charging terminals.

These terminals, compatible with all electric and hybrid vehicles, will be marketed in April and can begin to "be installed at customers' homes around May", indicated Nicolas Schottey, general manager of Mobilize Power solutions.

"We are on a flagship project: we are developing useful electronics, with functions where the environmental impact of the electronics," said Vincent Bedouin, CEO of Lacroix, which designs and manufactures electronic equipment.

The Lacroix factory in Beaupréau, where around 500 employees work, was inaugurated in September 2022.