PARIS -- Renault is rushing to keep up with rivals to tap growing demand for electric cars in Europe with new models -- possibly with the help of Nissan.

The French automaker is mulling a new full-electric car, bigger than its Zoe, that could compete with models including Tesla's Model 3 and Volkswagen's ID3.

The car may be produced on a common platform with Nissan and third alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors, according to Emmanuel Bouvier, commercial director of Renault's electric car business.

"We are working on developing the range of our lineup so as to cover all segments with electric cars," said Bouvier, adding the new vehicle could also be derived from an existing model.

"It's too early to say that we will be in competition with Tesla head on, but we are obviously planning to cover a larger share of the market," he said.

Renault and Nissan moved early among mass-market automakers to offer electric vehicles with the Zoe and the Nissan Leaf, but the models lack major shared components or underpinnings.

The prospect of the automotive partnership producing new cars together has been under a cloud ever since the downfall of former leader Carlos Ghosn, whose November arrest threw deep tensions in the two-decade old alliance into the open.