Daily Archives: April 14, 2018
Pininfarina Launches EV Brand, Hypercar To Come In 2020
Pininfarina launched Automobili Pininfarina on Friday in Rome. The brand will focus on the conceptualization and the production of electric vehicles. Pininfarina’s parent company, Mahindra, is currently in Rome to compete in this weekend’s Formula E Championship round.
Battista Pininfarina said that launching a car brand is a dream come true for him. Thanks to the financial backing of Mahindra, these dreams are coming into fruition.
The cars that will be produced under the new brand will be prestigious and luxurious, true to Pininfarina’s name and reputation. The first model will arrive this year as the production version of the H2 Speed concept that was shown at the 2016 Geneva motor show. The H2 Speed is a track-only electric supercar that uses a hydrogen fuel cell stack instead of batteries. There will only be 12 units in production.
But on Friday, during the launch of the Automobili Pininfarina, the company said that the flagship model of the brand will arrive in 2020. The vehicle will use a technology formulated by Rimac and Mahindra’s Formula E team. Power output will most likely be 1,480 horsepower, similar to the Bugatti Chiron. But much like the H2 Speed, too, there will only be a few units in production.
Rimac, as we can all remember, recently revealed C_Two hypercar that can produce as much as 1,914 horses from its four electric motors.
Don’t fret, though. Even if you can’t get your hands on the flagship model from Pininfarina’s new car brand, you can get dibs on other Pininfarina models, which will be built in higher volumes. This would include sedans and SUVs.
This is not the first time Pininfarina would venture into the production of cars. The company has been actively building various cars for companies, including the Volvo C70. It also has quite an experience producing electric cars such as the BlueCar electric hatch developed by French firm Bollore.
Peugeot Has No Plans For Dedicated EV
Peugeot CEO Jean-Phillipe Imparato made a surprising claim recently when he said that the brand has no plans of creating a dedicated EV anytime soon. This statement was made at a time when every car manufacturer, from Kia to Ferrari, is working on EV concepts and dedicating a team to produce them faster.
Imparato is confident that Peugeot will reach its carbon dioxide emissions target for 2021. Car manufacturers in Europe are mandated to keep a check on emissions produced by their vehicles in an aim to lessen CO2 emissions by 2021. The Peugeot head said the brand does not need to launch an electric vehicle and take a hit to reach the target. To protect the operation of the French automaker, Imparato said there are plans to launch a mix of powertrains.
However, this does not mean that the company is anti-EV. While Imparato sees no need for a dedicated EV for now, he did say that he wants Peugeot to lead the way for electrification. By 2019, 8% of Peugeot’s model lineup will be electrified. By 2020, that number will be 50%. He believes that the transition to electrified vehicles should not be done in the future. It should be today.
Imparato is not closing Peugeot’s door on EV. He did say that he would want a dedicated EV for the brand in the coming 10 years. For now, though, what they can offer is a “modular platform” that will cover all markets—electric, hybrid, petrol, and diesel.
Peugeot’s clear plans should be trusted, considering that it reported a sales growth of 10.4% in the previous year. Its siblings, the Citroen and DS, reported negative growth. Imparato said the export of vehicles helped Peugeot grow exponentially. However, China and Germany and many other countries will ban Internal Combustion Engines by 2025. Let’s see how Peugeot will play through this.