Pininfarina B0

The Pininfarina B0 (pronounced “B Zero”) is an electric concept car created by Pininfarina in partnership with Bolloré and unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

It builds on the technology first seen in Bolloré’s 2005 Bluecar concept, combining a lithium metal polymer battery with a supercapacitor developed by Bolloré subsidiary Batscap.

This hybrid energy storage setup improves regenerative braking and acceleration while also helping to prolong battery lifespan.

The service life of the batteries is around 200,000 kilometres of driving. To achieve such figures, the developers had to resort to several technical tricks.

For example, the main lithium-polymer batteries are not recharged during braking or by the solar panels mounted on the roof and bonnet. All of this “temporary” energy is instead stored in a block of high-capacity supercapacitors and then used to power the onboard electronics or to provide more efficient acceleration.

The B0 was announced with a projected driving range of 250 km, a top speed of 130 km/h, and an acceleration time of 6.3 seconds from 0 to 60 km/h.