European Motor Show focuses on electric mobility

With a world premiere of the C-Zero EV from Citroen, a featured area for electric cars, electric rally events and major European carmakers battling to become first in the electric vehicle race, the European Motor Show in Brussels tries to catch up with its big brothers in Detroit or Geneva. cars21.com visited the most interesting stands.
European Motor Show focuses on electric mobility
88th edition of the European Motor Show Brussels - 14-24 Jan2010
Turning our attention away from the Detroit Motor Show, the Brussels event also has a lot to offer with regards to the developments in EV's. A small area dedicated to EVs, with an expo and a test track is designed to give visitors a tast of other EVs available at the Auto Show.

Clean Week 2020 - electric and alternative race in Belgium

The first fully-fledged CO2-neutral mobility event will take place in Belgium at Circuit Zolder from 5 - 9 May 2010. Besides solar powered cars and cars on other alternative energy, one main focus of the event are hybrid and fully battery-powered cars. The rally and a parade on the track will serve as a mobile showcase for prototypes, innovations and/or cars presently substantially contributing to an environmental improvement.

The event is a mixture of rally, trade fair and symposia to combine technology with education in order to provide an annual review of future oriented technologies in the fields of mobility and environment. Moreover, Clean Week 2020 is not only aiming to raise the interest of professionals from the industrial and civil service sectors but also offers special workshops for pupils, students and academics to enthuse the future generation for this topic.

Starting this year for the first time the Clean Week 2020 is already planning similar racing events in other European countries such as Germany and Italy.

Peugeot: New agreements and all-electric models

Peugeot’s desire to take a significant share of the electric vehicle market could be seen at the Auto Show. The company estimates the share for electric vehicles to be between 1,5% to 3% of the passenger vehicle market in Europe by 2015. With the all-electric models iOn (130 km operating range, li-ion batteries) that will be launched at the end of 2010 and the EV concept BB1 (120km operating range, li-ion batteries), Peugeot featured its first two future models at the show that are supposed to play an important role in that electric development.
cars21.com talked to Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg’s Head of Training, Guido Junius, who showed himself convinced that this time electric vehicles were here to stay, and that following incentives from legislators, carmakers would be taking this opportunity seriously. The recent movement towards electric mobility could not be compared to earlier attempts of reaching a mass market in the 1990s and would not be a simple flavour of the month.

At the Brussels Motor Show, Peugeot signed two Letters of Intent agreements with Veolia and Greenwheels concerning the purchase of electric vehicles and the development of mobility services. The agreement with Greenwheels, a car-sharing company, is for several hundred vehicles to be rolled out in the Netherlands in the first stage, followed over time by Germany and the UK.

Citroën: C-Zero debut at Brussels Auto Show

Citroën took the wraps off its new Mitsubishi-built all-electric four-seater C-Zero city at the European Motor Show. The C-Zero is a re- brand i-MiEV that, along with the Peugeot IOn, will be offered in Europe later this year. According to the press release C-ZEO's permanent magnet synchronous motor is powered by a latest-generation lithium-ion battery system and delivers 47kW or 64bhp EEC from 3,000 to 6,000rpm. Maximum torque of 180Nm is available from 0 to 2,000rpm. A 220-volt socket can either charge the batteries in around 6 hours or, alternatively, C-ZERO can be charged using a 400-volt supply for an 80% charge in 30 minutes.

Renault, Volvo, Opel and Ineltra Systems

Renault as well wants to position itself as a major future electric vehicle manufacturer, putting its electric model series to the centre stage of its booth. With the Fluence Z.E. Concept, an electric version of a family car, that will be launched first in Israel (1st semester 2011) and then in other countries and the Zoe Z.E. Concept due on sale in mid-2012, Renault showcased two models of the battery cars quartet that the carmaker will be introducing to the European market over the next three years.

Volvo showcased its V70 PHEV that will be just a start for a series of plug-in electric vehicles planned for the future. Exhibition neighbour Opel showcased the Ampera, surrounded by mirrors, to passers by.

Ineltra Systems presented its software for charging stations applicable for normal as well as intelligent charging stations that communicate with the person who charges. The software is already implemented in charging stations from Mennekes and Rittal. This year’s decision about the standard plug solution to be used in all of Europe will not affect Ineltra’s software solution already now optimised for different solutions.