Renault Samsung Near Launch of SM3 E.Z. Production

Renault Samsung Motors is working on line conversions to begin producing the SM3 E.Z. battery-electric vehicle going into serial production in the second half of the year.

“We’re making the lines to produce the pilot cars from July or August,” spokesman Jason Koh tells WardsAuto. The auto maker plans output of 1,000 units of the SM3 E.Z. by year-end.

Koh confirms Renault Samsung has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s Ministry of the Environment and some major suppliers to support the EV program.

The agreement stipulates the auto maker will develop and produce the vehicles for a retail price below 45 million won ($40,500), with the ministry providing subsidy grants to initial purchasers, including companies that offer hourly car-sharing programs, car-rental firms and taxi companies.

The car-sharing program will be an hourly vehicle-rental service. “Customers pick up a vehicle at a stand and drive it at an hourly rate and return it to the stand,” Koh says.

Renault Samsung also is reviewing potential taxi-company customers, which ideally would have their own recharging systems.

Suppliers that have signed the memorandum include the battery-pack maker, LG Chem; LS Industrial Systems, which produces EV-grid recharging systems, including one grid undergoing tests on South Korea’s Jeju Island; POSCO, which will supply sheet steel for the vehicle; and Kumho Tires.

A non-production SM3 E.Z. model is on display at the Seoul auto show, which runs through April 7. It was produced at Renault’s Oyak-Renault Otomoil Fabrijalari plant in Bursa, Turkey.

The unit being shown at the Seoul show features a 22-kW (30-hp) lithium-ion battery pack produced by an unnamed supplier. The production version that will launch at the Renault Samsung plant in Busan will use a slightly more powerful LG Chem 24-kW (32-hp) Li-ion battery made in Korea.

Specs for the production SM3 E.Z. will be the same as those of the vehicle being shown at Seoul, except for the larger LG Chem battery pack. The vehicle’s AC synchronous motor has maximum output of 70 kW (94 hp) and maximum torque of 167 lb.-ft. (226 Nm).

Range on a full charge is 76 miles (123 km), Renault Samsung says.

The production SM3 E.Z. has the same body-dimension specs as the gasoline-powered SM3 compact sedan, except that it is 5 ins. (13 cm) longer. The additional length is necessary to provide an extended trunk where the battery pack will be vertically installed.