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Citroen Considers New EV For 2020

Remember the Citroen C-Zero? My, how awful of a car that was, but bear in mind the Mitsubishi i-MiEV lookalike started production a year and a half before the Nissan Leaf became a thing. It was one of the automotive industry’s first steps into then unknown territory, so hating on the C-Zero’s flaws is definitely not worth the effort.
Citroen C-Zero 11 photos
Photo: Citroen
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Citroen, however, learned something from this experience. And three years from now, the French automaker will try its hands at full electrification yet again thanks to Groupe PSA’s push in this direction. Speaking to Automotive News Europe, chief executive officer Linda Jackson rightfully confirmed the future product plan.

“Our strategy for electric vehicles,” she said, “is not to have a vehicle dedicated to electric, but to have electric across the range.” That’s an interesting outlook on EVs in theory, but in practice, Citroen is facing an uphill battle. Developing cars for both ICE and electric powertrains takes a lot of money, but with a bit of luck, Citroen will pull this off. Just look at what the peeps at Hyundai did with the Ioniq and Kia with the Niro.

Letting customers choose between gasoline and electric makes sense, whichever way you look at it. In related news, the crown jewel of Groupe PSA plans to introduce a new-generation EV in 2019. The thing is, DS Automobiles has yet to reveal what body style, performance, and NEDC range the newcomer will boast.

PSA is also in the middle of developing a modular platform for electric vehicles, whose name is e-CMP. Slated to premiere in 2019, the e-CMP has been briefly described by its maker, and there’s a lot to like about it. More to the point, look forward to as many as 450 km of range and a fast recharging system capable of delivering up to 12 km of range for every minute of charging.

These being said, it will be interesting to see what Groupe PSA has in store for the Opel and Vauxhall brands, which as a brief refresher, the French conglomerate bought from General Motors for $2.2 billion. Will Opel and Vauxhall follow in Citroen’s footsteps? Only time will tell.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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