PSA and Mitsubishi to Partner for Electric Vehicles;

PSA and Mitsubishi are going to partner in the attempt to develop new electric vehicle models and powertrains. PSA is a French automaker and Mitsubishi is a Japanese automaker along with Nissan whose Frontier model can be found at a discount with Frontier deals. GM, whose luxury models can be found at a Hartford Buick dealer, is releasing the Chevy Volt, a new hybrid car featuring the latest electric powertrain technology and will compete with the new joint development model.

Also, Volkswagen, whose models can be found at a VW Peoria Dealer, has released information about developing a Volkswagen Golf hybrid model. The first models will be light commercial vehicles. A commercial vehicle would be sold by PSA. The vehicle would likely be a commercial van which would be a strong candidate for electric powertrain viability. The van would be similar to the Peugeot Partner or the Citreon Berlingo.

The reason why commercial vans are in consideration is because they are driven a specific distance and usually the same route. It would be easier to plan commercial van recharging because of this. Regular car owners do not necessarily plan out their trips as much and might not be able to plan out recharging times as easy as a business that uses commercial fleets.

The electric car market is anticipated to increase both in Europe and throughout the world as more consumers become interested in fuel saving hybrid models or completely electric models.

Last September, the two automakers developed an agreement in which Mitsubishi would give some of its electric car models to the Peugeot and Citreon brands. The model that the cars are based on is the i-MiEV Mitsubishi model that is currently on sale in Japan. The Global Smart Car might also be seeing a release in other markets as well.