Quand les enjeux environnementaux créent des innovations stratégiques: Le cas du véhicule électrique de Renault

Environmental breakthrough innovations, such as the electric vehicle, call for enlarging the scope of traditional projects: product usage context has to be redefined; users have to learn new practices; business models need to value the collective environmental externalities; traditional value-chains have to be deeply extended and reshaped. Therefore, managing such innovations requires both a consistent strategic intent and learning capabilities. Based on the case of Renault Electric Vehicle Program, the paper focuses on the role of pilot deployments in managing such dynamics. It highlights how pilot deployments support (i) the structuration of local ecosystems, (ii) the development of collective learning capabilities and (iii) the creation of recoverable assets having a prescriptive power.