PARIS - European planemaker Airbus announced on Wednesday a partnership with French carmaker Renault to develop a new generation of electric batteries for cars and planes.

Engineering teams from both companies will join forces to mature technologies related to energy storage, one of the main roadblocks for the development of long-range electric vehicles, Airbus said in a statement.

“For the first time, two European leaders from different industries are sharing engineering knowledge to shape the future of hybrid-electric aircraft", said Gilles Le Borgne, Renault's EVP for engineering. "Aviation is an extremely demanding field in terms of both safety and energy consumption, and so is the car industry."

The collaboration will focus on energy management optimisation and battery weight improvement while also studying the full life cycle of future batteries and assessing their carbon footprint.

  - Reuters