Peugeot-Citroen will get commercial electric van batteries from GS Yuasa

PSA Peugeot-Citroen has turned to GS Yuasa for lithium-ion battery packs for the automakers' upcoming commercial electric vans. The batteries will be manufactured at a Ritto, Shiga Prefecture plant owned by Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture between GS Yuasa and Mitsubishi Motors. This plant, according to a report published in the Japanese Nikkei newspaper, can crank out enough li-ion batteries for up to 50,000 electric vehicles a year.

We're assuming that the commercial electric vans, which are slated to hit the market in late 2012, will be mass-produced battery-powered versions of the existing Peugeot Partner and Citroen Berlingo. Why the assumption? Well, the Nikkei report reads like this:

The batteries are expected to be supplied via Mitsubishi Motors to a Spanish production site of PSA Peugeot Citroen for use in commercial electric vehicles the French automaker will start making in 2012. These vehicles are being developed with Mitsubishi Motors based on PSA Peugeot Citroen's existing gasoline-powered commercial vehicles.

In addition, Mitsubishi and PSA Peugeot Citroen have a cooperative agreement on electric vehicles ranging from the Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero to the development of electrified versions of the Peugeot Partner and Citroen Berlingo light-duty commercial vans built at the PSA Vigo plant in Spain. See the connection?

[Source: Green Car Congress]