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By removing the option to buy, and adding the DRM, Renault will have cornered the market in batteries for the car. Perhaps you'd like to buy a 3rd-party battery? Tough luck. Think that the battery rental rates are too high and you'd prefer to rent from someone else? Bad luck again, Renault will be the only ones in the market.

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if the objective of this is to make the car cheaper, you shouldn't really expect Renault to abuse this. If it isn't, then someone else can come in and offer a cheaper package.

I feel like if I were to make a same form-factor battery for a car I'd get sued on design patents. Cars have always had super tight vertical-integration. It might change, but this situation is pretty close to the status-quo.

Cheaper at the onset does not imply cheaper overall. Renault is already fleecing their customers with one of the highest maintenance costs of all makes (higher than BMW for instance).

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