Peugeot’s new baby was designed not just as a city car. Rather, it has been modeled to beat every record in the world of battery-powered vehicles. In order to test the Peugeot EX1, French car enthusiast Nicolas Vanier, together with Han Han, a famous Chinese blogger have planned an event to record the car’s performance. The record-beating event happened in Sichuan province at the Chengdu Military airport. The EX1 reported an unofficial rating of 3.49 seconds during the 0-to-100 kilometers per hour sprint.

Han Han reported figures at 7.0862 second in the eighth-mile run and 12.6754 seconds in the quarter mile test drive. The French car maker have officially released that both figures beat every record in the tests done for battery-powered automobiles. Clearly, the Peugeot EX1 have caught the attention of every electric vehicle company. With the new records set by the Peugeot EX1, it won’t be long before other competitors take up the challenge.

The SUVs are set to be released in Europe by early 2012. These compact SUVs will carry specific design details marking the Citroen and Peugeot lines. Components from the Mitsubishi ASX will also be incorporated. The SUVs will also be stylized to consume low fuel levels. Electric steering and a regenerative breaking system will also be used to promote a more efficient power generation control.

These vehicles will be available in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive. The projected production volume of both the Citroen and Peugeot are set at 50,000 units per year. PSA Peugeot will use a 1.6 HDI diesel engine for models produced under its brand. This type of engine emits low CO2 levels, particularly in the two-wheel drive versions.

This collaboration is set to expand the range of both Citroen and Peugeot by at least 60% by the year 2015. For Mitsubishi Motors, the added volume should strengthen the production of its platform. This is definitely a plus for the company considering the unstable automotive market and the push towards greener cars.

To date, this is the fourth team up between the two companies. Earlier, Mitsubishi Motors and PSA Peugeot also worked together to develop the Citroen C-crosser and Outlander Peugeot in 2005; a recently inaugurated joint-plant in Russia; and the Citroen-C and Peugeot iOn which will be launched this year. The recent Citroen and Peugeot evolution were based on MMC’s MiEV model which was primarily marketed in Japan.

Peugeot recently released the iOn sedan, an all electric vehicle that got its DNA from their i-MiEV platform. The autoworld is also expecting another vehicle based on Citroen soon.

Like the name suggests, the iOn runs on lithium-ion battery. It has an output of 64 horsepower with a torque of 133 pound-foot. Peugeot claims that the top speed of the vehicle is pegged at 81 mph and a single charging can go the distance of 81 miles.

Another great feature of the vehicle that may be useful for fleets is its ability to communicate through a local dispatch so each vehicle can be located.

Charging the vehicle will not really be a problem since the iOn can be plugged into a regular outlet that carries 220 volts. Full charging can be done in as short as 6 hours. There is also an option to fast charge the EV in just 30 minutes and it will carry 80% of its capacity.

Like the i-MiEV, the iOn will be made available to fleet customers and business owners. The EV will go on sale before the end of 2010. The production of the first batch of iOn will start by October 2010 but if you want to get a glimpse of the vehicle, it will be displayed during the motor show in Frankfurt next week.

Citroën also announced that they will be coming up their own version of the i-MiEV. Some agreements between the other companies involved are just being ironed out.

To keep up with the demand of the market today, the 407 Coupe combines power and environmental responsibility with its power train variants:

The Peugeot 407 Coupe gets a V6 3.0L HDi PEF powerplant that is coupled with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. This engine outputs about 241hp and a torque of 450Nm at 1600 rpm which makes it the most powerful engine Peugeot ever produced in its more than one century of car making history – but, as this is still an environmentally-friendly car, it’s also one of the greenest!

The 3.0L engine can zoom the 407 Coupe from 0 to 100 in a matter of 7.7 seconds. In addition to that, it boasts of a 15% improvement in fuel mileage compared to its older V6 sibling that had a displacement of 2.7L.

The other 407 Coupe engine is the 2.0L HDi with PEF that is capable of giving 163hp and a torque of 340Nm. Coupled with PEF or particle emission filter and manual 6-speed gearbox, the car brings a total value package in terms of price, performance, and kindness to the environment. This 2.0L variant can drive for 100km in just 5.4L of fuel plus a 20% power improvement from the previous generation.

In France, the 3.0L V6 variant of the 407 Coupe has a sticker price of 47,600 Euros while the 163hp 2.0L variant goes for 33,350 Euros.

To make the picture clearer, there was 1 Peugeot in every 6 vehicles sold in the UK and Europe for 2008. That is the reason why the car company tops the sales for low CO2 emitting vehicles that part of the globe.

The range of cars of Peugeot has 36 kinds of vehicles that are below the 121 g/km. The commitment of the car manufacturer to build environment friendly cars had made their Blue Lion standards a household name in the UK. The Blue Lion standards refer to their vehicles that are all below the CO2 emission rating of 131 g/km.

In the UK, the Peugeot 107 led the pack of the best selling vehicles with a very low CO2 emission of 106 g/km for 2008. The 107 sold 16701 units in 2008 which is a jump from the 15333 in 2007.

The Peugeot 207 and 308 also placed 5th and 9th, respectively, for the top sellers in the sub 121 g/km class.

The 3 green cars in the top 10 list definitely establish the position of the car manufacturer as one of the greenest best sellers. The combined statistics put the figure to 18.6% for the over all sales of the below 121 g/km in Europe.

The Peugeot provides car owners a wide range of choices to make an environmentally conscious decision when it comes to choosing their rides.

It is high time that the manufacturers of cars started experimenting with alternative fuels that will help to run the car of the future and also be friendly towards the environment. Most manufacturers have already started working in the direction and Peugeot is no exception. Those who have been following Peugeot’s advances in this direction shall know about their new car named Quark. This is a 4-wheeler car and is meant to carry 2 persons and runs on fuel cell technology.

Each of the four 17” allow wheels of this car has electric motors fitted to them and this helps to run the car. A complex and air-cooled system that depends on hydrogen fuel is used to supply power to the motors. This is the best way to go for the future since there is no harmful CO2 emission from this car. Though it can seat just four persons now, in the future, as technology advances, the car shall be able to accommodate more persons. This car is just a prototype and is a pointer for what Peugeot is planning for the future.