Visit Renault-factory

Also unusual: the factory is not grey and drab, but almost festive. On the main building is a huge banner making it clear that the new Renault 5 is being produced here. The car park is also full of brightly coloured new 5s. In short: people are proud that the new Renault 5, alongside the Megane Electric and the Scenic Electric, is being built here. And that explains what makes this factory special: after thorough modernisation, only electric cars are built here.

Renault made this choice because an electric car is very different from an internal combustion engine car. For instance, making an electric car takes much more energy and its energy costs are a bigger expense than labour. So the new Renaults are built partly out of pride in France and partly because of cheap, abundant and reliable electricity. Moreover, that electricity comes largely from green sources (which in this case includes nuclear power).

From cell to battery pack

As the plant became smaller, space for suppliers was created around the factory site. Right next to the Renault plant recently stood the factory of the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation, or "AESC". This is a subsidiary of Renault and Nissan, but AESC also supplies other manufacturers if required. Although the Douai plant is just new, AESC has existed since 2007 and its expertise begins with the first Nissan Leaf.

The Douai plant has a capacity of 9 gigawatts of batteries per year, hence the name "gigafactory". This is sufficient for about 180,000 to 200,000 electric cars a year. Battery cells and modules are made at AESC in Douai. The car manufacturer combines several modules in a housing and equips the whole with a control unit, cooling, heating and more. For the Renault 5, Scenic and Megane, this is done several hundred metres away, as it saves transport costs and therefore emissions. In fact, all other suppliers are also located nearby, as Renault wants to build European cars in Europe. Only the Renault 4 is built some 200 km away, but the battery pack (identical to that of the Renault 5) comes from Douai.

During the process of bundling the modules into a battery pack, a photograph is taken of each step and each component is given a unique number (QR code), which can later be used to identify the cause of any problems. The complete battery pack undergoes various tests (overloading, waterproofing, etc.) before being incorporated into the bottom of a car.

Production process

Since the bodywork of an electric car is no different from that of a conventional car, the sheet metal shop and paint shop were skipped for this factory visit. The chassis arrives at the assembly department in the colour ordered and including the battery. More than half of the cars produced during the visit consisted of Renaults 5, as that model is by far the most in demand. The production line therefore looks unusually colourful for a factory! Although the 5 is available in black and grey (Alpine A290), buyers overwhelmingly choose yellow, white and green.

And there is another difference from other factories: the production process is relatively simple. To keep the price of the Renault 5 low, the number of parts is limited. A 5 consists of a thousand parts, which is very few for a modern car. Without the rush usual for a car factory, workers calmly and in a controlled manner provide the bare chassis with wiring and mechanics (suspension, brakes, air conditioning, etc.). Parts are delivered by robotic carts, but it is humans who actually assemble them. Finally, the car is fitted with electronics, seats and upholstery.

At traditional factories, the moment of truth then follows: will the car start and be able to drive to the inspection station under its own power? Often a starter motor has to make just a few more turns than desired, but the electric Renaults all quietly come to life and whizz to quality control. There, under bright lights, the paintwork is checked for perfection, the car takes a shower (water tightness check) and all functions are tested. Renault says that special attention is paid to testing the infotainment system with its internet connection and many AI functions, as electronics are essential to the functioning of an electric car. In total, building a Renault 5 takes 10 hours. The car is then shipped to customers, most of whom are within 1,000 km of the factory.

Conclusion

What makes the Renault plant in Douai special? The fact that only electric cars are built there, based on European components, intended for European customers. Because energy costs are higher than labour costs when producing electric cars, Renault chose to build its electric models in France. And because Renault is centralising production of the electric models, suppliers can respond accordingly and, among other things, the battery plant is located nearby (note: the battery plant will only be operational from spring 2025, until then cells from China are used).

After the Douai plant learned from the electric Megane, the electric Scenic could be built more reliably and efficiently. The lessons from the Scenic were then used to build the Renault 5 even faster and more economically. For instance, battery technology has been improved, the number of parts that make up the car has been reduced and post-production testing has been intensified. Partly for this reason, the announced electric cars from Nissan and Mitsubishi will also be built in Douai in the future.