Pininfarina frees up San Giorgio plant for new EV

Pininfarina first confirmed back in December it was planning to build a new electric vehicle in a joint-venture with France’s Bollore group. The coachbuilder has now revealed that it will be moving production of the Alfa Romeo Brera (pictured) out of its San Giorgio plant to make room for the new electric vehicle.

The new zero-emissions vehicle will be sold as a Pininfarina in Europe, the U.S. and Japan by 2010 and will be powered by advanced lithium-ion batteries developed by Bollore. The car itself will be 100% electric and therefore produce no emissions and will have a range of around 250km on a single charge.

Speaking with AutoWeek, Pininfarina CEO Sergio Angori said the San Giorgio will be refurbished early next year for the new car.“By the end of the year, production of the Alfa Romeo Spider and Brera will move from San Giorgio to Bairo,” Angori revealed. Bairo currently builds the Mitsubishi Colt CZC and the Ford Focus coupe cabriolet.

Production of the new electric car will start in the last quarter of 2009 with roughly 15,000 cars expected to be built each year. The yet-unnamed car will debut in concept-car form at October’s Paris Motor Show and then in full production trim at Geneva next year. Pricing is expected to be kept low at around €15,000 ($23,000), although the batteries are likely to be leased on top of this. Pictured below is Pininfarina's Sintesi fuel-cell concept vehicle from this year's Geneva Motor Show. a possible preview of the new coachbuilder's new electric vehicle.

Pininfarina Sintesi Concept