Over the last years, automotive industry almost spent a billion euros trying to sell electric cars. Even though people all agree the future belongs to electric car, only 7% are ready to buy one today. The remaining 93% still think they need more autonomy, infrastructures or to leave in a big city to switch to electric. As the leader in electric, Renault had to find a new way to prove them wrong and convince them that switching to electric is possible now and everywhere.

To prove them wrong, Renault created the first 100% EV City.

Where? In Appy. The remotest town in France. Because if it's possible here, it's possible everywhere. So, we brought an all-electric Renault ZOE to replace every single inhabitants’ car for 3 years. And voilà, we proved a 100% electric world is possible by showing that nothing changed in their life.

If switching to all-electric in the remotest town in France is possible, then it’s possible everywhere. So, by turning Appy into the first ever 100% electric vehicles city, we showed to the whole world that switching to electric is accessible for everyone, and everywhere.

A long-term experiment for a durable change

Imagine Appy, in the middle of rural France; a quiet, unsuspecting village overflowing with heartwarming clichés, hardworking individuals and visions of the future. But more importantly, a place where driving is an everyday necessity. The people of Appy stand firm in their belief that a successful community is one that embraces modernism and is aware of its ecological footprint.

If you put a few Zoe’s in the street of Bordeaux, no one will notice now but what if you were to replace all the cars in the most remote village of France and give all its inhabitants a Zoe to drive for 3 years. What if?

Renault did just that in the village of Appy.

And now you have a story to tell.

And that’s not all, what if it was not only about driving clean but also about charging clean. Most drivers of electrified cars are not aware of the origin of their electricity, they’re even less aware of the fact that they are charging their cars with grey energy (energy from fossil fuels). What’s the point in driving electrified when your energy isn’t clean?

What if we were fitting the village with photovoltaic energy, so the electricity is 100% green and our drivers aren't just using electric cars, they’re also charging them with green energy: no impact, zero emissions. This is what we are working on, the electricity to power the Zoe in Appy will be green and locally produced soon, with installations on top of the mayor office and a communal wash and fold, people can power their car with the city provided electricity.

And voila, Appy officially became the first city on Earth to drive only electric cars. And after one year of driving only ZOE, nothing has changed in this town. People still drive as much as before without having any lack of autonomy or missing infrastructures.

What if we were to make a 15 minutes documentary about it and broadcast it on TV and online to prove once and for all how easy and possible it is to switch to electric.

We know that changing the automotive landscape and energy needs isn't going to happen overnight. It's going to happen one step (one town) at a time.

What if, indeed.

We brought all-electric Renault ZOE to replace every single car of all inhabitants of Appy, for 3 years.

And voila, this village officially became the first city on Earth driving only electric cars.

After one year of driving only ZOE, nothing has changed in this town. People still drive as much as before without having any lack of autonomy or missing infrastructures.

National and local journalists have been invited to the inauguration of this “First ever 100% E.V. city” and to follow the journey of every inhabitants.

Then, we made a 15 minutes documentary about it and broadcasted it on TV as a one-week series and online to prove once and for all how easy and possible it is to switch to electric.

Journalists started to talk about the campaign more than 1 month before the launch of the campaign generating 400.000€ of earned media.

After we launched the campaign, broadcasted our documentary online and on TV, we reached 1.000.000€ of earned media and 63.000.000 views for 29.000.000 of impressions.

one year after the launch of the campaign, Renault increased its ZOE’s sells by 50% and officially became the best E.V. seller in Europe. Oh and by the way, Appy inhabitants saved 7 000 liters of gas and 10 tons of CO2.