PSA Group is quietly, patiently, and thoughtfully pursuing a goal of building sales of battery electric vehicles (EV) while continuing to make money — not an easy task today with the disruption to markets caused by the coronavirus.
According to Forbes, the PSA Group logged a €595 million profit in the first half of this year. The company’s e-208 — a battery electric vehicle built on the same chassis as several other models in the 208 family — is selling quite well.
In June, the e-208 accounted for 17% of all sales in the 208 family.
This week, PSA announced it has developed a new dedicated platform for battery electric vehicles. Think of it as the Volkswagen MEB platform with a French accent.
Dubbed eVMP, it will be the foundation for new electric models from PSA in the C and D sectors of the market from 2023 forward.
eVMP concentrates all of PSA’s engineering know-how into a package that can support battery sizes of between 60 and 100 kWh. The goal is to permit at least 50 kWh of battery capacity per meter of length between the front and rear wheels.
That means the cars built using the eVMP chassis should have a range of between 400 km and 650 km using the WLTP standard depending on the size, weight, and style of the body that sits on top of the platform.
The company adds that the eVMP chassis could support hybrid derivatives in certain markets to meet local needs and market demands.
PSA seems to have the recipe for selling electric cars profitably.
Reference- PSA Group PR, InsideEVs, Electrek, Forbes