Green Options

French energy minister Jean-Louis Borloo will announce a plan on Thursday for the country to invest 1 billion Euros ($1.46 billion US) in the infrastructure needed to encourage the adoption of electric cars. That investment will buy 4.4 million charging stations, upgrade the power grid, purchase a government fleet of electric cars, and provide subsidies to EV buyers and auto manufacturers.

France hopes that this amount of investment will be enough to get 2 million electric cars on its roads within 10 years.

Peugeot has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi to begin building and marketing a new electric car in Europe based on Mitsu’s i-MiEV platform. The agreement builds upon a previous memorandum of understanding and solidifies the two companies as partners in next generation car technology.

The car is set to begin production and sale in Europe by late in 2010. Peugeot expects to sell 25,000 of the cars to the European market per year. Citroën, Peugeot’s sister company, will also sell the i-MiEV-based electric car under the Citroën brand.

A London manager for an energy saving company has found himself the recipient of some incredible luck after walking away from his converted Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Peugeot that had, moments before, exploded. The incident occurred while he was driving at 30 miles per hour after lighting a cigarette.

The French government announced today that it has earmarked a massive €400 million ($549 million) in state support for the development of electric and hybrid cars.

Peugeot has announced plans to debut an all-new performance hybrid concept at the Paris motor show in October. According to the French manufacturer, the car, known for now as the RC Clubs, (but whose final name will be confirmed at the show), will be a four-door, four seat GT Coupe with “highly innovative hybrid architecture.”

Peugeot claim that the car boasts 313bhp, with combined CO2 emissions of 109g/km. If true, this would make the RC Clubs easily the most powerful model in production by the French outfit, yet also one of the greenest. Moreover, when running at low speeds, the RC will be powered solely by an electric motor, meaning zero emissions at source, much the same as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid.