Pininfarina B0 Electric Car

The famous Italian design group Pininfarina, who is best known for their exotic sports cars, is set to produce an all electric city car called the Pininfarina B0 (B-Zero). The 5 door, 4 passenger electric car is a joint venture with the Bolloré Group, who is involved in Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP) battery production. These high energy, low weight batteries can be quickly charged in a few hours and claim to have a maintenance free life of 125,000 miles.

Another key to the design is the use of supercapacitors, which gather energy from regenerative braking and deliver that energy is rapid bursts needed during acceleration. This allows for 45 kWh of power to the front wheels and a top speed of 80 MPH. The range is an impressive 150 miles. 0-37 mph acceleration is 6.3 seconds.

Another unique feature is its photovoltaic solar roof which captures energy to feed the battery. Pininfarina expects to release the car in the Western Europe market in late 2009. Then possibly the U.S. and Asia in 2010.

Here is a link to Pininfarina’s site (in Italian)