Pininfarina to develop its own electric car

Pininfarina, the famous Italian design company, has announced it plans to develop and manufacture its own electric car. Though images and full specifications are not yet available, some information was released about the car, including that it would be sold under the Pininfarina brand name. A major partner to the project will be the Bolloré Group, a French conglomerate that has unique Lithium Metal Polymer battery technology.

The car itself will be 100% electric and therefore produce no carbon dioxide emissions. It will have four seats and will be equipped with a battery that will provide it with a range of around 250km in city driving. This battery combines the benefit of high energy density with an exceptionally long life, and the companies claim the vehicles it powers will be able to run for more than 200,000 km.

The Pininfarina electric car will do zero to 50 km/h in 4.9 seconds and have a top speed of 130km/h. Since it will be electric only, users will have to charge it from the power grid. Both companies claim a full charge will take approximately five hours. If you’re in a hurry, a five minute charge will be sufficient for up to 25km.

Pininfarina has big plans for this car and expects to build 15,000 a year – or more if there’s enough demand. The electric car will be sold concurrently in Europe, the United States and Japan beginning by 2010. It is possible that the recently announced Pininfarina Sintesi concept to be shown at the Geneva Auto Show will be a concept for this electric vehicle.

Though Pininfarina is famous for designing a number of cars for Ferrari and Maserati the company has suffered financial difficulties in recent times and posted losses for the last two years. For the first nine months of this year Pininfarina posted a loss of €39.1 million, up from a €16.3 million loss in the same period last year. An own-brand electric car, if successful, could be the solution for bringing the company back in to the black.