PSA Suspends EV Order, Has Enough

by Bertel Schmitt

August 8th, 2012 10:58 AM

In 2010, when everybody was going ecstatic about EVs, PSA Peugeot Citroen said to Mitsubishi: “send us some of your i-Mievs, with our badges. Say, 100,000 for starters.”

PSA sold them (as much as they could) as the Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero, the first car that sounds like sugar-free soda-pop. Now, PSA picked up the phone, called Japan, and said: “Hold the i-Mievs! We have enough!”

PSA Peugeot Citroen suspended deliveries of electric cars made by Mitsubishi Motors “to avoid inventory build-up amid lower-than-expected sales,” The Nikkei [sub] reports.

Says a very diplomatic Nikkei:

“Plug-in electric vehicles haven’t seen the rapid uptake that some car makers had hoped, held back by their high cost, the lack of charging facilities and limited range of around 180 kilometers, although this is improving as the technology develops.”

The uptake was limited to 900 Peugeot iOns for the first six months, down 40 percent from the same period of 2011, and 1,200 Citroen C-Zeros, a far cry from the optimistic goals.

A PSA spokeswoman told The Nikkei that they are not giving up on the EVs, calling the delivery stop a “temporary adjustment.”

#BertelSchmitt #France #I-Miev #Japan #Mitsubishi #PSA

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12 of 17 comments

Jpolicke on Aug 08, 2012

Does anybody know: In the US the standard charger that comes with an EV is 110V, which is the reason the charge takes so long. Since Europe runs on 220V, is the standard charger faster over there, or do you still need a high-amp model like they sell you up to here? Just curious, only slightly related to the story.

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- Caswal on Aug 08, 2012
  
  Yes, they will charge faster than a 110v supply. But not as quick as a proper charging station.
  
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- David Dennis on Aug 08, 2012
  
  All EVs I know of in the USA come with 220 volt internal chargers and all but mandate the installation of 220v charging units in your house. A 110 volt outlet would take about a day to charge the typical EV. The roughly 8 hours you are hearing for charging times are for 220 volt supplies. In their new Model S, Tesla offers a dual charger which basically bonds together two separate 220v high power circuits into one, giving about a 5 hour charge. I think such a unit makes charging times largely irrelevant as long as you travel less than miles in a day. So for me, with my 150-odd mile trips to Miami, I need the medium or high-end Tesla (with ranges of about 225-300 miles). Anyone who wants to make a road trip longer than that needs to plan their stops around charging stations or recognize an electric car is not for them. By the way, in the context of this announcement it's important to note that the Mitsubishi entrant is uncompetive even for electric cars. The Nissan Leaf eats its lunch - it gets slightly better range, has a higher carrying capacity and is far better developed as a car. D
  
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- Robert Schwartz on Aug 08, 2012
  
  @Caswal The performance of a BEV is measured in Kilowatt hours KWh, i.e. 1000 * Watts * 3600 seconds = 3,600,000 Joules or 3.6 MJ. The Watt and the Joule are the SI units of power and energy respectively. A Joule is a Watt for one second of time. The fundamental relation of electricity is Watts = Amps * Volts. A 110V system, i.e. US standard household lines is fused at 15 Amps. Actually, the nominal voltage of US house hold systems is 120V at the main circuit box. This means that the maximum delivery of electric power through such a circuit is 1800 Watts, and that the maximum amount of charging is 1.8 KWh in an hour. Most BEVs seem to get a bit more than 3 mi/KWh (let's call it 3.33 for ease of computation). So the maximum charge that can be in one hour will take you 6 miles. I.E. a standard US line will at the very best charge a BEV at 6 mph -- a jog. OF course, no real line works a ideal maximum, and there are resitance losses in the transmission and charging processes, so 5 mph. is more like it. A dryer or stove line in the US can be up to 240 V and 30 A. or four times a standard line. It is true that European systems are run at higher voltages Usually about 230 V, but they also tend to be fused at lower amperage than US systems. I know that British 230 V systems are fused at 13 Amps. While American 240 lines are fused at 30 A.
  
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- Robert Schwartz on Aug 08, 2012
  
  @David Dennis Don't run a hair dryer while you are charging your car;-)
  
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- Scoutdude on Aug 09, 2012
  
  @Caswal American 240 lines are not "fused at 30a" they range all over the place from 20a for a large window AC or a small water heater to 50a for a range or an electric furnace. It's all a matter of what you want to do with it, the size of the wire, and any required down rating required of items that operate on a continous bases like heating devices.
  
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- Scoutdude on Aug 09, 2012
  
  @David Dennis Yup the Mitsu is a dog, the Leaf stomps all over it in every area and the Volt at least with it's initial demand is beating the Leaf in sales and many other aspects. We'll see how well both of those do once the Focus EV and Focus Energi are available outside of their initial market areas. On paper anyway they soundly beat their respective competition.
  
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El scotto on Aug 08, 2012

Yawning. Plug-ins are still a niche market for most people. They're great for the few who have the infrastructure in place.

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Victor on Aug 08, 2012

EVs will be big in 10 years.

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- Jpolicke on Aug 08, 2012
  
  They said that 10 years ago.
  
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- Savuporo on Aug 08, 2012
  
  @jpolicke They did ? 10 years ago everyone was still up in arms about GM crushing EV1s and not making anything out of their EV1 series hybrid prototypes. Lithium-ion tZero was only built in 2003, less than 10 years ago. Tesla was barely a twinkle in Elon's eye back then.
  
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Linoberlin on Oct 16, 2012

Citroen has placed 100 C-Zeros in Berlin with a car sharing project. It's fun, affordable and works well. Maybe that's the future of EVs, at least the near future. Not sure if Citroen will be able to run this project on a profitable basis.

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