PSA Peugeot Citroen has Big Electric Car Plans Unfolding

France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen is undoubtedly the world’s most successful builder of electric vehicles, having sold over 10,000 EVs since 1995. These have included the pioneering 1995-2003 Peugeot 106 Electrique and Citroen Saxo Electrique clone. They were succeeded by Electrique versions of the Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot Partner vans.

With the current interest in battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, fuel cell powered vehicles seem to be on the back burner. However, PSA has developed an innovative fuel cell application that serves as a range extender for an electric vehicle. In its FiSyPAC (Fiabilisation systeme pile a combustile) project it is demonstrating a hydrogen fuel cell in a Peugeot 307 CC convertible converted to run on battery power.

The Peugeot electric convertible features a lithium-ion battery pack that provides a range of nearly 50 miles in electric-only mode. Range extension is achieved with a 17 kW Genepac fuel cell stack. With a storage tank holding just over 9 pounds of hydrogen at 10,000 psi, the range increases to over 300 miles in the range extending hybrid mode.

PSA doesn’t expect to begin mass marketing of a vehicle with a fuel cell until the 2020-2025 time frame due to a number of road blocks, including the cost of the fuel cell system and lithium-ion batteries. In the meantime, PSA plans to introduce both electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the near term, with the Peugeot Ion and Citroen C-Zero electric vehicles introduced in late 2010. Both are essentially badge-engineered versions of Mitsubishi’s electric i-MiEV. PSA and Mitsubishi jointly developed these EVs, which offer a range of 80 miles on lithium-ion batteries and a top speed of 80 mph.

The Peugeot 3008 and Citroen DS5 clone, available in early 2011, will probably be the first production hybrid cars with a diesel engine. Both use PSA's Hybrid4 ‘through-the-road’ hybrid architecture with no mechanical connection between the internal combustion engine and electric drive system. The diesel engine drives the front wheels while an electric motor and battery provide on-demand all-wheel-drive at the rear, along with electric-only operation at lower speeds. The latest word is that nickel-metal-hydride batteries will be used in this application.

Recently, PSA showed the four-passenger Peugeot BB1 concept, which it identifies as a cross between a car and a scooter. Powered by two wheel-mounted electric motors at the rear, it uses lithium-ion batteries to provide a range of up to 75 miles between charges. Solar panels help power the vehicle's onboard systems.