Peugeot Citroen + Mitsubishi = electric cars
June 19, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) have announced a deal today for both companies to begin a joint feasibility study on an “extended technical collaboration” to develop electric powertrains.
Mitsubishi announces the news a few hours ago, saying the study will be conducted over several months, with the final aim being the development of electric powertrain for small urban vehicles.
With Toyota, Honda and GM leading the Hybrid race, Mitsubishi and PSA felt that cooperation on electric vehicle development and production would be mutually beneficial.
This is not the first time the Japanese giant and PSA have dealt with each other, only last week the companies opened a joint Russian factory, in Kaluga (180 km south west of Moscow) that will manufacture vehicles for both brands.
PSA wants to continue its work on electric cars and produce more green cars as part of its plan for 2010-2015. Although not a well known fact, PSA Peugeot Citroen is currently the largest global manufacturer of electric vehicles, having sold over 10,000 units.
PSA’s expertise will be joined by that of Mitsubishi who plans to become one of the leading car manufactures of electric vehicles. The company has so confirmed the i MiEV electric vehicle for introduction to the Japanese market in 2009 with possibility of it going to Europe and the U.S.
PSA will also benefit from Mitsubishi’s Lithium Ion battery venture with GS Yuasa, which will supply large capacity and high performance lithium ion batteries for the i MiEV.
Print it: 
*****PRIMO!*****
If this was PRICED RIGHT i would buy one.
It will no doubt be a fantasy crazy price which will defeat the purpose….
Cheers
F-0
A little know fact is that altough toyota and honda are generally recongnised as leaders in hybrid technology, and honda leaders in hydrogen fuel cell technology, its actually mitsubishi who are the leaders when it comes to 100% electric vehicles, with a number of mitsubishi i and colt “MiEV” models already undergoing long term production trials in japan for the last couple of years now and they are obviously ready to start production of the car next year.
Mitsubishi use pretty clever little “in-wheel” electric motors, as opposed to central electric motors which toyota use in their hybrids. These in wheel motors are not only fantastic for packaging as they literally fit within the suspension and wheels of the car, but also eliminate the need for a conventional gearbox. They actually put 4 of these in wheel motor (essentially making a 4wd) into an EVO IX and apparently it was a pretty awesome thing.
looks like a cross between the new micra and Audi tt
a 100% electric powered lancer evolution with equal or possibly even superior performance to the normal evo thanks to the superior torque characteristics of electric engines? That sure is one way to make electric cars popular!!!!
That’s correct Richo, you can find info on the electric EVO here
http://www.caradvice.com.au/10.....tion-miev/
thanks Alborz, was just looking at that actually!
Ever thought about what in-wheel electric motors are going to do to the ride and handling? All that unsprung weight. Never mind, it’s electric so it’s gotta be good, even though it will have a range of about 120 kilometres and will have its batteries charged by fossil-fuelled power stations. Way to go, Mitsubishi.
The Japanese and French Combine! :D
Captain Mainwarning.. mitsubishi lancer evo MiEV managed 250km/h, and that was with 4 motors, needless to say the “normal” 2 wheel motored versions would be able to travel significantly futher.
Also their are alot of different ways to get electricity without burning fossil fuels, hydro electricity has been around for over 100 years!
It’s people like you with your un-necessarily negative attitudes to technological advancements which hold the world back. Bloody laggard…
I obviously meant a range of 250km’s, not 250km/h! The evo MiEV managed a (resticted) 180km/h top speed
Electric vehicles are true zero emission vehicles if ou want them to be, and they will still be much cheaper than any other option in fuel/energy running costs.
Offpeak power is about 8 cents/khw which gets you the equivalent of about 0.6 litre/100km. If you want to by 100% renewable power you can do it with most utilities. It adds another 6 cents per kwh – so you can run a zero emission electric car for the equivalent running cost of a petrol car capable of 1 litre/100km.
2010 will be an interesting year with about 5 manufacturers that I can see releasing either full electric or plugin hybrid “mainstream” vehicles.
Can I put a deposit on one for my wife now?
PSA make good stuff. Think of the 2.7L Turbo diesel in the LR3, Pug 407 and Jag XF. My Freelander 2 has a 2.2L PSA diesel that makes 400Nm and gets 9L/100 around town and 6.5L/100 on the highway in a 1800kg vehicle. My other car has a 3.0L six cylinder by PSA with great performance a great sound and acceptable fuel economy even in today’s world.
PSA know what they are doing and I’m confident they’ll get this right.
Richo, time for a dose of reality. What percentage of electricity in Australia is generated by hydro? The real future of electric cars will be plug-in series hybrids with a small petrol or diesel engine acting as a generator for a large electric motor. Problem is the battery, which currently costs $40,000 and is not projected to be affordable for 30 or 40 years. In the meantime, if everyone changed their car every three years for one that uses 10% less fuel, this on its own would save many times more fuel than all the pure electric cars that are ever likely to appear on the roads in that time.
ps. A 250km range in a pure electric car is dependent on driving really slowly in city conditions. Get it out on the freeway at 110km/h and your 250 km becomes about 100.
how many time do you 110 in the city? I live in the country and if I didnt go out of town and used it for going to work and running around town it would cost about $2.00 per week to run, not a bad thing!