Renault targets US partner for French electric car network

: Renault SA plans to bring in US partner Better Place to run its future electric-car charging network in its home market of France, chief operating officer Patrick Pelata said.

Besides recharging stations planned by Electricite de France SA, the country needs the California startup’s battery- swapping service to maximise demand for electric vehicles, Pelata said in an interview on Tuesday at Renault’s headquarters in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt.

“We’re working on having it in France,” Pelata said. “Nobody else is working with this business model, so it’s probably going to be with Better Place.” Starting in 2012, drivers of electric Renault cars in Israel and Denmark will use Better Place’s roadside stations to switch depleted batteries for recharged units in three minutes, extending their effective range beyond a single charge. In France, the government has appointed state-owned EDF to roll out a recharging network that may be open to rival power suppliers and operators.

Renault and Japanese affiliate Nissan Motor Co are committed to investing $6 billion in the electric vehicles and batteries that they plan to begin introducing in 2012.