The French ecology minister, flanked by the CEOs of Renault and Peugeot Citroen, announced plans this week to build the infrastructure needed to support up to 2 million electric and hybrid cars by 2020. A million battery charging points are to be deployed by 2015, in parking lots, private homes, and roadside stations; from 2012 on, all new apartment buildings with parking lots will be required to include charging stations. Some of the 1.5 Â billion euros allocated to the plan also will go to support R&D on batteries and advanced cars.
The plan, coming hard on the heels of President Sarkozy's carbon tax, is expected to unleash in France a "battle of the electric cars" among the nation's major manufacturers.
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