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Bolloré and
Pininfarina have entered into a partnership
featuring all the expertise required to
launch serial production of an electric car
which, thanks to its technical
characteristics and its attractive styling,
is bound to make waves in motoring circles.
This car will
not be a prototype. It will be a mass
production model, with the first units
coming off the production line at the end of
2009, after which production will be ramped
up gradually based on the availability of
the batteries. Built in Turin by
Pininfarina-Bolloré, a joint venture formed
by the two family-owned groups, the B0
electric car will be powered by Bolloré’s
proprietary LMP technology, using a
combination of batteries and supercapacitors
manufactured in Bolloré’s plants in Quimper,
France and Montreal, Canada. The B0 will be
a fully-electric vehicle without any carbon
dioxide production, having been designed
from the ground up with that aim in mind.
Its batteries will be housed in a
compartment specially designed for that
purpose and located under the car, between
its axles, lowering its centre of gravity
and providing it with outstanding
road-holding properties.
With its
superb body styled by Pininfarina, Italy’s
renowned vehicle design shop, the B0
electric car will be an elegant four-seater,
four-door hatchback with an automatic
gearbox. Its LMP battery, which will be
rechargeable in a matter of hours from a
standard domestic main socket, will provide
it with a range of 250 km (153 miles). The
B0 will have a top speed that is
electronically limited to 130 km/h (80 mph)
and will feature potent acceleration,
reaching 60 km/h from a standing start (0 to
37 mph) in 6.3 seconds. The B0 will also
feature solar panels on its roof and hood,
so as to help recharge its electrical power
reserves.
Because it is
100% electric powered, the B0 does not
generate any pollution. But the process of
generating the electricity which the car
uses must also, as far as possible, not have
produced any atmospheric pollution. That is
why the creators of the B0 have designed it
to incorporate every possible solution
designed to optimise the car’s energy
efficiency and use of clean energy sources.
For instance, the B0 electric car is fitted
with supercapacitors, which enable it to
store and recycle the energy that is
generated while braking. Similarly, the
car’s roof and part of its hood are covered
with highperformance solar panels which help
power some of its equipment. It goes without
saying that a responsible environmental
approach must be coherent throughout. Which
is why all the materials used to build the
car’s body, battery and interior trim have
been carefully selected for their low
environmental impact. All are recyclable or
reusable. The Bolloré Group is also in the
process of developing straight-forward
panels of photovoltaic cells which might be
installed by individuals or in public places
to fully or partly recharge the B0 electric
car’s batteries using solar energy. |
