Electric Cars
Mitsubishi wraps up deal to supply 100,000 i-MiEVs to PSA Peugeot Citroën
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has announced the signing of a “Final Cooperative Agreement” with PSA Peugeot Citroën on the supply of its i-MiEV electric car to the French brands. The deal will see the Japanese company supply 100,000 units of the i-MiEV to PSA, which will rebadge the car and market it as the Citroen C-Zero and Peugeot iOn. Both cars will be launched in Europe, starting in France, by the end of 2010.
The i-MiEV EV, which is based on Mitsubishi’s i city car, is powered by 88 lithium ion cells connected in a series. Its permanent magnet synchronous motor makes 47 kW or 64 PS and 180 Nm of torque from zero to 2000 rpm. Cruising range is 160 km in the Japanese 10-15 mode. A full charge from a 200V outlet will take about seven hours.
This news comes in the wake of failed discussions for capital alliance between both companies in the style of Renault and Nissan. PSA chief Philippe Varin confirmed that at the Geneva show but also said that both parties will continue talking about expanding business ties – and this is one example of a good tie up. PSA also markets the Mitsubishi Outlander SUV under Peugeot and Citroen brands.
Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZero: an EV, an EREV and a fuel cell vehicle all in one!
Mercedes-Benz will be exhibiting a trio of “Concept BlueZero” cars at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show in January 2009. One will be called the BlueZero E-Cell, which runs on an electric motor powered by a lithium ion battery. For those who want plug-in charging, the vehicle can do that.
Two hours of charging gets you 100km of maximum range. But of course, lithium ion batteries have range issues right now, as you can see 100km isn’t really much especially in Europe where cross-country journeys can be really long.
So the other two BlueZero concept cars are the BlueZero E-Plus and the BlueZero F-Cell. The E-Plus has an additional internal combustion engine installed in the rear of the vehicle which is used to generate power to charge the lithium ion battery. The internal combustion engine is taken from the smart family of vehicles, an inline-3 turbocharged engine. This can extend range up to 600km. This is what car manufacturers have been calling an EREV, or an extended range electric vehicle. Finally you have the BlueZero F-Cell, which uses a fuel cell that produces electricity from hydrogen.
Less exciting is the concept-like interior, which looks truly at home in a concept car. It uses organic green materials which can be easily recycled, to satisfy those tree huggers out there.
Last but not least… are we also at the same time looking at a preview of the next generation B-Class design language?
