Electric Cars market: Mitsubishi and Peugeot are competing with Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co. to take the lead in electric vehicles. TNR.v

Chinese BYD is taking over US market of Electric cars and Japanese are pushing into Europe.

"Speed to market is everything and BYD is pushing hard - at stake is the first entry advantage. This new announcement is a response to Japanese attack on edge of green mobility revolution and GM Volt charge into the market place in 2011. Will BYD be able to establish Brand in auto sector leapfrogging into electric space in the West? Will access to Lithium and REE supply chain be a crucial point in developing the whole green mobility market space?"

" As for car batteries, Hykawy thinks the impact they will have on lithium demand may be quicker than most people realize. Both the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf will utilize lithium-ion batteries. Assuming each maker will produce between 200,000 and 300,000 annually, and knowing that each battery uses 20 to 30 kg of lithium carbonate, Hykawy points out that is already "thousands of tonnes a year.""It doesn't take much to make an impact when you're talking about a market that only goes through 120,000 tonnes a year - the impact will be appreciable pretty quickly," he says."

Peugeot, Mitsubishi Chiefs Sign Agreement on Electric Cars

By Evan Roth
Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. signed an agreement to develop electric cars to be sold in Europe by the end of 2010.
Peugeot Chief Executive Officer Philippe Varin and Osamu Masuko, his counterpart at Mitsubishi, agreed in Paris today to develop a vehicle based on Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV electric car, according to a joint statement. Tokyo-based Mitsubishi introduced the i-MiEV in June.
The fully electric car will be sold under the Peugeot and Citroen brands. Production is slated to begin in October 2010 with sales by the end of that year. The Paris-based automaker had said in March that Mitsubishi would supply it with electric cars based on the i-MiEV.
Mitsubishi and Peugeot are competing with Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co. to take the lead in electric vehicles. Automakers are under pressure from governments throughout the world to trim carbon-dioxide emissions and develop more efficient cars.
Peugeot rose as much as 1.48 euros, or 7.9 percent, to 20.13 euros in Paris trading, and was up 7.5 percent to 20.05 euros as of 11:35 a.m.
Mitsubishi will begin global sales of the i-MiEV with right-hand drive this year and plans to build a left-hand-drive version next year, according to the companies.
Shared Platforms
Peugeot and Citroen expect to sell 25,000 of the electric cars each year, Peugeot spokesman Laurent Cicolella said by phone today.
Peugeot and Mitsubishi already share platforms for sport- utility vehicles and they’re building an assembly plant together in Russia, Cicolella said.
Cicolella declined to comment on a report in French financial newspaper La Tribune that the two carmakers are considering an alliance as Peugeot seeks a partner outside Europe.
“We’re sticking to the strategy Varin outlined in his July 29 speech, when he said we won’t rule out opportunities for external growth to help us reach our goal of becoming a global player,” Cicolella said."