Renault has developed an interesting prototype electric vehicle. It's called the Kangoo Elect'road.

It uses a small half liter engine to recharge the batteries if needed. Also, the car can be plugged in to recharge. By itself, the range on a single charge might be in the range of 60 miles. The onboard engine and recharging system is referred to as a "range extender". Apparently it cannot recharge the batteries fast enough to give unlimited range.

To achieve it's range, the Elect'road uses much larger batteries than hybrid electrics use. These are mounted under the seats.

France is making a strong commitment to electric vehicles. The national run electric company is planning on increasing the number of charging stations to 4000 and is helping the development to advanced lithium polymer batteries. These would extend the range on a single charge to around 150 miles.

Renault has an alliance with Nissan, so some of what's learned from the Elect'road might filter into Nissan products.