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Mobilize is the fourth car brand launched by the French Renault Group in January 2021, standing alongside Renault, Dacia, and Alpine. The brand is not a traditional car manufacturer but is positioned as an urban-centric mobility service provider. Its core business covers car sharing, ride-hailing, vehicle subscription services, leasing, and energy management. The brand aims to promote sustainable mobility and the circular economy, helping the Renault Group achieve its carbon neutrality goals. All Mobilize brand models are not sold to individual consumers; instead, only subscription services are provided, adopting a pay-as-you-go model.
Mobilize serves as one of the core pillars of the Renault Group's "Renaulution" strategic transformation plan, initially carrying out former Group CEO Luca de Meo's visionary ideas regarding future mobility. According to the original plan, by 2030, Mobilize was expected to contribute 30% of the Group's total revenue. The brand was not only responsible for developing exclusive micro EV models but also involved in business areas "beyond car manufacturing," such as EV charging network construction, used car remanufacturing, and user data management.
However, this ambitious brand had a short lifecycle. In December 2025, the Renault Group announced the termination of most businesses under the Mobilize Beyond Automotive entity. Whole vehicle manufacturing and car sharing services were shut down, and the brand no longer exists as an independent entity. However, the Mobilize brand name continues to be used in the fields of financial services and energy services.
Mobilize was born under the strategic background of the Renault Group seeking diversified development. In January 2021, the Renault Group officially launched the Mobilize brand, establishing it as the Group's fourth business pillar. Later that year, the brand unveiled the EZ-1, a two-seater pure electric concept car. Measuring only 2.3 meters in length with a 1+1 seating layout, its design was heavily influenced by Renault's classic Twizy model and was regarded as a direct competitor to the Citroën Ami.
Initially, Renault registered four trademark names for Mobilize—Duo, Bento, Hippo, and Limo—planning to launch four proprietary models targeting different passenger capacities, functions, and usage scenarios. According to the plan, Renault, Alpine, and Dacia would serve as the main electric vehicle suppliers for the Mobilize mobility service system, with business operations covering online ride-hailing and car sharing services.
In 2022, the brand officially released the Duo, a two-seater micro EV, along with its cargo version, the Bento. Production was scheduled at Renault's factory in Tangier, Morocco. The brand also promoted the operation of the Zity car-sharing service, which launched successively in Milan, Italy, and Madrid, Spain. In the charging sector, Mobilize partnered with companies such as STMicroelectronics and The Mobility House to promote the commercial application of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.
In 2024, the Mobilize Duo entered mass production. Later that year, the brand launched Mobilize Power in France, the world's first commercial V2G charging product for end consumers, marking the official entry of two-way charging technology into the commercial stage.
In 2025, Mobilize's strategy underwent a fundamental turning point. At the end of July, after new CEO François Provost took office, an internal assessment concluded that, given tightening capital allocation and intensifying industry challenges, large-scale investment in fast-charging infrastructure no longer aligned with the Group's priorities. In December, the Renault Group officially announced the shutdown of the Mobilize Beyond Automotive entity, eliminating approximately 80 jobs (out of a department of about 450 employees), primarily through voluntary resignations and internal transfers. From that point on, the Mobilize brand ceased to exist as an independent entity.
Mobilize's product matrix is mainly micro electric vehicles. Originally planned to cover four models, only Duo achieved limited mass production, and mass production of Bento never truly started.
EZ-1 Concept Car (2021): The brand's first concept car, a two-seater pure electric vehicle, 2.3 meters long, using a 1+1 seat layout, design style consistent with Renault Twizy. It demonstrated the brand's design direction for urban micro electric mobility tools.
Duo (2024): Mobilize brand's flagship model, a micro two-seater electric quadricycle, body dimensions 2.43m x 1.30m x 1.46m, classified as quadricycles in some European countries, allowing teenagers over 14 to drive without a license. Duo offers two power versions: Duo 45 Neo with 6kW motor (about 8 hp), top speed 45km/h; Duo 80 Evo with 16kW motor (about 21 hp), top speed 80km/h. Both versions are equipped with 10.3kWh Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) batteries, range about 160km under WMTC standard. Vehicles are for subscription use only, not sold to individuals. Duo's lifecycle was extremely short, producing only about 2000 units from release to July 2025, far below the designed capacity of 17,000 units annually. In December 2025, Duo stopped production only one year after production started.
Bento (Planned for Production in 2024): Cargo version of Duo, rear seats removed to accommodate 649 liters of rear cargo compartment. Bento's design aims to meet the "last mile" delivery needs of urban logistics, but mass production of this model never substantially started.
Limo (Planned): A pure electric sedan planned for development, developed in cooperation with Renault and Jiangling Motors, positioning targeting ride-hailing market, but this model ultimately failed to go into production under the Mobilize brand.
Hippo (Planned): A micro electric van planned for development, responsible for "last mile" cargo delivery, also failed to enter the mass production stage.
Mobilize brand's market performance was far from expectations. Its core mass production model Duo produced a cumulative total of only about 2000 units from production in 2024 to July 2025, far from the designed capacity of 17,000 units annually. Pricing strategy is considered one of the important reasons for poor market performance: No-license version Duo priced at 9990 euros, about 2000 euros higher than direct competitor Citroen Ami; Version requiring B1 driver's license priced at 12500 euros, gap too small compared to Renault Twingo E-Tech launching in 2026 (priced below 15000 euros), but the latter can accommodate 4 people.
In key markets such as the UK, Duo was halted before formal delivery. Regarding car sharing business, Zity project's single vehicle daily usage cost was 30% to 50% higher than private cars, actual utilization rate only about 25% to 30%, far from the 60% break-even line. Mobilize department failed to achieve profitability for three consecutive years.
It is worth noting that Mobilize Financial Services, the most successful segment of brand operation, as of the end of December 2024, managed average assets of about 61 billion euros, pre-tax profit of 1.194 billion euros. In the first half of 2025, Mobilize Financial Services new financing amount increased year-on-year by 3.8%. Currently, this business covers 35 countries, has more than 4000 employees, end of 2024 net deposits reached 30.5 billion euros, accounting for 50% of the company's net assets. The robust performance of financial services became the core pillar for the continuation of the Mobilize brand.
Mobilize's biggest legacy in the technical aspect is concentrated in the Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G, Vehicle-to-Grid) field, the brand achieved multiple "world firsts" in this field.
Mobilize Power V2G System: In 2024, Mobilize launched the world's first commercial V2G product for end consumers in France. This system enables electric vehicles not only to draw power from the grid but also to feed electrical energy from the battery back to the home or grid. When electricity prices are at off-peak times, vehicles charge at low prices; at peak electricity prices, vehicles can feed electrical energy back to the grid, helping users reduce electricity expenses. Users using Mobilize V2G service can reduce average charging costs by about half.
Mobilize PowerBox: Intelligent two-way charging station developed by Mobilize, external dimensions 45cm x 27cm, power range covering 7kW to 22kW. PowerBox's core technology provided by IoTecha, integrated STMicroelectronics microcontroller chip, while ensuring seamless communication between electric vehicles and charging stations, also considering smart grid secure data transmission as well as data security and product security. PowerBox Verso (AC wall-mounted charging pile) provides hardware support for V2G charging, this product is manufactured in Europe, also compatible with standard one-way charging.
Virtual Power Plant Technology: Mobilize cooperated with tech partner The Mobility House, aggregating the battery storage capacity of many electric vehicles into "virtual power plants" through the platform for trading in the electric energy market, creating additional benefits for users. The platform adopts multi-market optimization strategies, buying and selling electricity in day-ahead market, intraday auction market and intraday continuous market respectively, revenue is more than 300% higher than single market optimization. Users can set estimated departure time and battery charging goals via mobile App, system automatically completes charging/discharging scheduling and ensures battery life.
Fast Charge Network: Mobilize Fast Charge network deployed ultra-fast charge equipment with power up to 320kW, charging for 15 minutes can replenish 400km range, site availability over 99%. The network is compatible with "Plug & Charge" function, compatible vehicles insert charging gun can automatically start charging, no need for swiping card or scanning code.
Mobilize's business layout is highly concentrated in the European market. The brand's car sharing service Zity operated in Milan, Italy and Madrid, Spain. Milan service terminated immediately when brand shutdown in December 2025, Madrid project planned to gradually end operations before 2026.
Charging infrastructure is the key field of Mobilize overseas layout. The brand originally planned to build 650 ultra-fast charging stations in France, Italy, Belgium and Spain by 2028. However, after strategic adjustment, the goal was greatly reduced to: nearly 100 stations built in France and over 100 stations in Italy by end of 2026, Belgium and Spain projects were abandoned. As of end of 2025, over 60 ultra-fast charging stations opened in France. Through Charge Pass service, Mobilize provided Renault Group owners access authority to over 1 million charging terminals in Europe, user count nearly 90,000.
Regarding financial services, Mobilize Financial Services renewed strategic cooperation partnerships with Nissan in multiple core markets in Europe (France, UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, etc.), providing financing, leasing, insurance and service solutions for Nissan's private and corporate customers. Regarding deposit business, Mobilize Financial Services is the first car finance company in France involved in deposit collection business, currently extended deposit business to 7 countries including France, Germany, Austria, UK, Spain, Netherlands and Poland. Regarding leasing business, the brand established important outposts in the European leasing market through measures such as acquiring Germany MeinAuto and investing in UK Select Car.
The future trajectory of the Mobilize brand has become clear. In the fields of whole-vehicle manufacturing and mobility services, the brand has been shut down; production of the Duo and Bento models was terminated in December 2025, and the car-sharing business was exited simultaneously. These businesses were discontinued primarily because their profit prospects were limited or inconsistent with the Group's current strategic priorities. Energy-related businesses, such as V2G technology, ultra-fast charging networks, and charging subscription services, will be integrated back into the Renault Group’s core operation system and uniformly managed by Group Chief Growth Officer Fabrice Cambolive.
Mobilize Financial Services will continue to operate under the Mobilize brand. During the assessment period for the shutdown decision, brand management evaluated subsequent usage methods for the Mobilize brand in other service fields. Renault stated that Mobilize had "completed its role as an incubator and innovation driver by strengthening the Group's professional capabilities in new fields, identifying and developing high-potential opportunities, while terminating paths with lower relevance." Mobilize's short lifecycle—from its establishment in 2021 to its shutdown in 2025—provides a valuable case reference for traditional car manufacturers on how to explore new business fields "beyond car manufacturing."
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