Joint EV engine project

French automaker PSA and Japan’s Nidec are establishing a joint venture to mass produce EV motors with the aim of driving down costs.

The 50-50 joint venture will be based in France, the Nikkei Asian Review reports.

Both will invest a total 220 million euros in development and production.

Mass-production is expected to start in 2022.

All PSA vehicles are expected to get them, its quality and engineering vice-president Gilles Le Borgne says. PSA owns Peugeot and Citroen and will supply motors to other automakers.
Nidec’s low-cost technologies and PSA’s expertise in compact vehicles will help devise energy-saving motors.

Nidec supplies motors for power steering and braking systems, shipping them to the world at cost competitive rates, its chairman and chief executive officer Shigenobu Nagamori says.

France is set to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Other European countries have similar goals, providing the incentive for Nidec and PSA to base motor production in France.
Other joint ventures include Honda Motor and Hitachi Automotive Systems forming a Japanese partnership to produce motors, and Nissan Motor selling its subsidiary battery supplier for the Leaf to Chinese private equity firm GSR Capital.