Pininfarina will build electric cars

Until now when you said "Pininfarina" you thought of cars like Ferrari, Maserati, or, in another words cars that many of us can afford them. But the company announced that will build electric cars with French battery specialist Bolloré. The car has no names yet, it will be built in Italy and sold across Europe, US and Japan starting 2010.

The companies will invest about 150 million euros in the 50-50 joint venture to build 15,000 vehicles a year. The four-seat Pininfarina electric car will provide a 250km range in city driving and is designed to operate for more than 200,000km.

The car will feature battery technology Bollorè has spent 15 years developing. What makes Bollorè so-called Lithium Metal Polymer technology different from traditional Lithium Ion technology is that each battery cell is electronically protected by passive and active systems that constantly monitor operating efficiency, voltage and temperature of each element. The cells are encased in a steel container to prevent damage.