Renault-Nissan Alliance to open second research office in Silicon Valley

The Renault-Nissan Alliance wil open a second technology research facility in Silicon Valley at the end of the month, focusing on electric car, and smart grid, development.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is locating the office in the area officially known as Mountain View, California, next to big software companies like Google, and will also be working on in-car wireless Internet connectivity and making graphic interface systems more user-friendly.

The Nissan LEAF's 'Carwings' telematics system, which displays a map of nearby recharging stations and energy consumption read-outs on a 7-inch touchscreen, is a good example of the kind of technology that will be explored at this new facility.

"Having a greater footprint in one of the world's headquarters for clean tech research will extend our lead further [into] the auto industry's shift to sustainable transportation, said Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn.

As well as furthering the development of the Nissan LEAF, other future electric cars such as a premium Infiniti electric sedan, Renault cars destined for Europe like the Twizy and Kangoo ZE (for zero-emissions) electric cars, and commercial electric fleet vehicles from both brands also stand to benefit from research at the new Silicon Valley facility.