It was announced this week that Italian carmaker Pinifarina and French carmaker Bollore’s all-electric Bluecar will be available for lease starting in June 2010. Though only 1,000 will initially be produced, down from the original goal of 10,000, the relative cost of this new technology isn’t ridiculously expensive. At €330/month (around $485US/month), the Bluecar, when factoring in the savings in gas and maintenance costs, is affordable, but still hits the upper-end spectrum for a monthly lease.
Aside from its gimmicky, and largely ineffective (but expensive) solar roof, the Bluecar has some attractive features including nice detailing on both the interior and exterior design, a 100 mph top speed, ABS braking, A/C, airbags, short charge times, and a 150 mile range on a single charge. For its part, Bolloré has developed two key energy storage components:
– Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP) batteries, which are based
on a unique technology and offer exceptional energy
density as well as being very safe
– Super-capacitors, which provide additional power and can
retrieve and store power generated when a vehicle is braking.
The Good: A smaller EV with the detailing you’d expect from an Italian carmaker. 150 mile range and top speed of 100 mph are not features found in all EVs
The Bad: It’s fairly pricey. Available only in Europe. Unclear if large-scale production will ever occur.
The Bottom-Line: A nice concept EV turned small production model that could possibly be a springboard to other cars in the future.
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