While speaking at the 1st French-American EV Technology Forum held on December 8th, Joel Danroc, deputy manager of the French research organization CEA and Craig Childers, an employee at the California Air Resources Board (CARB), shared their ideas on how best to reduce a vehicle’s greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten years. Representatives from PSA Peugeot-Citroen joined in on the discussion and outlined the automaker’s multi-faceted approach for slashing emissions.
PSA’s attack will happen on all fronts. The automaker will focus on reducing vehicle weight, improving aerodynamics, employing widespread use of low-rolling resistance tires and refining its diesel and gasoline engines to lower fuel consumption. In addition, Peugeot will wheel out a vehicle propelled by a three-cylinder mill that achieves roughly 60 miles per gallon sometime in 2011.
In the realm of electric-drive models, PSA will introduce the world’s first mass-produced, through-the-road diesel hybrid vehicle next spring and intends to follow that up with the launch of a plug-in hybrid between 2012 and 2014. All told, the improvements, modifications and new vehicle launches should help the automaker meet Europe’s stringent emissions requirements that will come into play in 2020.
