06 May 08 12:08
Pininfarina is to convert its facility in San Giorgio, Italy, to build its upcoming electric car.
Developed in partnership with French battery specialist Bollore Group, whose Vincent Bollore is now a major shareholder in Pininfarina, the car is said to be a four-seater supermini to be priced from around €15,000.
Pininfarina will reveal a concept version of the car at the Paris Motor Show this autumn, with the finished version at Geneva next spring, and full production and sales from 2010. It will be sold - under the Pininfarina name - in Europe, the US and Japan, and the company plans to make 15,000 a year.
Pininfarina promises that the car will have a range of 155 miles between recharges for city driving and, while a full recharge takes five hours, a five-minute plug-in will give enough juice for 15 miles. The car can be recharged from a standard domestic power supply.
The San Giorgio factory currently builds the Spider and Brera for Alfa Romeo, but these cars will be made at the Bairo facility, where Pininfarina currently makes the Mitsubishi Colt CZC and Ford Focus C-C, from the end of this year.
