Not all carmakers have bee-lined to offer electric mobility in a nascent environment unprepared for the challenge ahead. Peugout.Citroen is planning to launch their first mainstream electric vehicle by 2020 alongside the freshly conceived CMP platform. The PSA group is still highly competitive in the petrol and diesel segments and in developing countries there remains a level of ignorance and resistance to electric cars.
The electric venture is underpinned by a €200 million euro platform developed in conjunction with Chinese partners Dongfeng. The CMP platform will most likely start with B-segment models like the Peugeot 208 and Citroen DS3 and then move into larger C-segment cars like the Citroen C4 Cactus.
PSA Boss Carlos Tavares said: “We will launch our pure electric cars from the bottom of the market upwards – so starting with the new CMP platform. That will be 2020 at the latest. “CMP will not be plug-in hybrid, however – that technology will be launched first by 2019, and on larger, top end cars based on the EMP2 platform.”
While admitting that hydrogen power had interested him, he poured cold water on the idea of PSA following that route citing a shortage of infrastructure needed to support hydrogen fleets.
