Pininfarina B0

Bolloré and Pininfarina have entered into a partnership featuring all the expertise required to launch serial production of an electric car which, thanks to its technical characteristics and its attractive styling, is bound to make waves in motoring circles.

This car will not be a prototype. It will be a mass production model, with the first units coming off the production line at the end of 2009, after which production will be ramped up gradually based on the availability of the batteries. Built in Turin by Pininfarina-Bolloré, a joint venture formed by the two family-owned groups, the Pininfarina B0 electric car will be powered by Bolloré's proprietary LMP technology, using a combination of batteries and supercapacitors manufactured in Bolloré's plants in Quimper, France and Montreal, Canada. The Pininfarina B0 will be a fully-electric vehicle without any carbon dioxide production, having been designed from the ground up with that aim in mind. Its batteries will be housed in a compartment specially designed for that purpose and located under the car, between its axles, lowering its centre of gravity and providing it with outstanding road-holding properties.

With its superb body styled by Pininfarina, Italy's renowned vehicle design shop, the Pininfarina B0 electric car will be an elegant four-seater, four-door hatchback with an automatic gearbox. Its LMP battery, which will be rechargeable in a matter of hours from a standard domestic main socket, will provide it with a range of 250 km (153 miles). The Pininfarina B0 will have a top speed that is electronically limited to 130 km/h (80 mph) and will feature potent acceleration, reaching 60 km/h from a standing start (0 to 37 mph) in 6.3 seconds. The Pininfarina B0 will also feature solar panels on its roof and hood, so as to help recharge its electrical power reserves.

LMP: revolutionary battery technology

At the heart of any electric car, lies the battery. Bolloré is a highly diversified group of companies with a combined yearly turnover of 10 billion US dollars and 35,000 employees. For the past 30 years, the group has been the world's leading producer of components for capacitors. Thanks to its acquired know-how in extruded polymers and the storage of electrical energy, Bolloré has been working for 15 years through its subsidiary, Batscap, to develop a solid-state lithium polymer battery. This battery is able to store, weight-for-weight, and it can be recharged in just a few hours. The battery does not require any maintenance and has a lifespan of around 200,000 km (125,000 miles). Another key benefit is its unmatched safety while in operation. Added to that, the Pininfarina B0 electric car does not emit any exhaust gases, nor any fine particles. The car's LMP batteries thus help combat air pollution. The batteries of the Pininfarina B0 also contribute to reducing noise, another nuisance which affects people's quality of life in urban environments.

Supercapacitors: boosting acceleration and recycling power

Supercapacitors are sophisticated energy storage components developed by the Bolloré Group. In an electric car, supercapacitors draw and store energy generated while the car is braking and feed it back into the system when the car moves off again. The result is greater acceleration, increased range and a longer lifespan for the car's battery. The electric cars powered by BatScap's LMP batteries and supercapacitors have a range of over 250 km. They are fast (with a top speed of 130 km/h), pleasant to drive, safe, and long-lasting.

Natural energy from solar panels

Because it is 100% electric powered, the Pininfarina B0 does not generate any pollution. But the process of generating the electricity which the car uses must also, as far as possible, not have produced any atmospheric pollution. That is why the creators of the Pininfarina B0 have designed it to incorporate every possible solution designed to optimise the car's energy efficiency and use of clean energy sources. For instance, the Pininfarina B0 electric car is fitted with supercapacitors, which enable it to store and recycle the energy that is generated while braking. Similarly, the car's roof and part of its hood are covered with highperformance solar panels which help power some of its equipment. It goes without saying that a responsible environmental approach must be coherent throughout. Which is why all the materials used to build the car's body, battery and interior trim have been carefully selected for their low environmental impact. All are recyclable or reusable. The Bolloré Group is also in the process of developing straight-forward panels of photovoltaic cells which might be installed by individuals or in public places to fully or partly recharge the Pininfarina B0 electric car's batteries using solar energy.

Pininfarina Sintesi Concept

Three years after the Birdcage 75th, Pininfarina returns with the Sintesi, a new concept car that explores ideas and solutions for the car of the future.

"The Sintesi is not only a testament to the creativeness of our design team," declared Andrea Pininfarina, Chairman and CEO of the Group, "but it reiterates our historical ability to anticipate stylistic and technological solutions that we will see in the cars of the future."

The Pininfarina Sintesi is a sports car with four doors and four seats, developed by a highly innovative approach: it does not consider the car as a shape that covers the mechanicals, but one that gives a shape to the mechanicals around the passengers, starting from the latter. This approach, which is known as "Liquid" Packaging, has overturned traditional volumetric balances, improving weight distribution and lowering the centre of gravity, which are important elements for driving dynamics.

This was made possible by close collaboration with Nuvera, which developed the Quadrivium Fuel Cells system, the various components of which were distributed around the car, with four fuel cells positioned near to the wheels. The result is that the space for passengers is much more generous - in proportion to the total volume of the car - without detracting from the sporty line with its relaxed, elegant profile which is sleek, tapered and aerodynamic (Cd = 0.27). The modular nature of the fuel cells, combined with the batteries and a sophisticated overall electronic architecture (developed with PI Shurlok), allows for modular use of the available power depending on driving conditions.

"Our source of inspiration," said Lowie Vermeersch, Pininfarina Design Director, "was man's freedom over technology, a car in which technology gives creative freedom back to the designer and allows us to explore new forms and future scenarios. But at the same time, we did not want everything to be limited to a flight of fancy, we wanted our approach to be very concrete. Which is why we combined and tested our ideas with the innovative technologies provided by our partners in this project."

The Pininfarina Sintesi was imagined in a setting of Transparent Mobility which, thanks to Clancast®, the radio technology developed by Reicom after years of research, envisages that all cars act as nerve cells, creating a dynamic communications network managed by a disseminated intelligence. A real "living connective tissue" on which data and information about traffic and security, audio and video, Internet and cross-media content can travel. A concept of wireless connectivity that establishes a continuous, transparent dialogue between the town, the road and the vehicles that we will drive in the future, without limiting the motorist's autonomy, but increasing his sense of freedom.

This futuristic scenario, based on concrete, existing technology, opens the door to advanced active safety solutions which in turn have made it possible to design the car with volumes that are not conditioned by today's bulky passive safety systems.

The important role played by electronics in the Pininfarina Sintesi project is also evident in the design of the interior and the lights. Inside, the facia symbolises the flow of information in which the car moves. Created as a single semi-transparent piece by Materialise, using the additive technology of personalised manufacturing, its shape disseminates the information around the passenger compartment thanks to the intuitive use of colour and light.

The lights become focal points through which the car dialogues with its environment. In addition to the innovative LED system supplied by Osram, which made it possible to create a simple, strong shape that underlines the car's central axis, the 'headlights' also incorporate the telecameras and the proximity radar system.

Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion

Pininfarina presents the Hyperion, a one-off custom-built car derived from the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe which made its world debut at the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach, America's most important competition for historical classic and one-off cars and a prestigious annual event.

The car is named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology, to underline its architectural and figurative power.

Andrea Pininfarina: "The car as an artistic expression"

"It is not the first time that the Pininfarina Special Projects Division has designed a unique car from a standard production model," said Andrea Pininfarina, Chairman and CEO of Pininfarina SpA. "In the recent past we have reinterpreted Ferrari engineering, as in the case of the Pininfarina Ferrari P4/5 of collector Jim Glickenhaus, or Peter Kalikow's Scaglietti "K". In the case of the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion, Roland Hall, a collector and the owner of a Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe, asked us to create a custom-built car that would evoke the appeal of the sumptuous cars of the 1930s. It might seem paradoxical, but today more than ever before, there is a desire on the part of a very elite clientele to return to the idea of the car as an artistic expression. As it was in the 1950s. With the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion, our team of designers and engineers was able to express its creative skills and to apply Pininfarina expertise without limits, save that of coming as close as possible to the type of car that our customer had in mind. The result was a custom-built unit that is firmly rooted in the values of the Pininfarina and Rolls-Royce brands, with lines and dimensions that are hard to find in a 21st century model. The Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion takes up the legacy of other Rolls-Royces designed by Pininfarina, the Silver Dawn saloon of 1951, for example, or the Camargue coupe of 1975."

The concept in brief

The history of Pininfarina offers plenty of examples of special cars built on "noble" bases. Which is why the company naturally welcomed Roland Hall's proposal to work on a Rolls-Royce floorpan. For the new Pininfarina one-off, however, the Special Projects Division wanted a new idea, something absolutely unique, which only an individual in love with the car as an abstract, and not merely utilitarian, concept could appreciate. And so the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion project was born, in the Autumn of 2007.

In terms of the styling, the first brainwave came when thinking of some of the cars of the 1930s, with their majestic, regal bonnets, and a body that surrounded the driver and a single passenger. Distinctive features of a car which, thanks to its strength and elegance, does not need to move to draw attention to itself.

Like all the cars designed by Pininfarina, the secret of the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion lies in its absolute harmony between masses and volumes, and the perfect balance of every proportion. Structurally, we moved the driving position further back (400 mm) and took out the rear seats. We designed a new hood, which folds behind the seats under a wood-lined cover. In front of the windscreen we created two compartments for small items or for sports equipment, such as Mr. Hall's hunting rifles.

The bodywork is made of carbon fibre, while the details are applied using a technology adopted in boat building. The doors were made of solid wood by craftsmen who specialise in creating components for luxury boats. This is another aspect of the programme of Pininfarina special cars: offering customers unique stylistic and technical solutions that are not possible on mass produced cars.

Some of the best international firms contributed to the realisation of the project: Re Fraschini for the carbon, Isoclima for the glazed surfaces, Proxi engineering for the drawings of the car, Triom for the lights and headlights, Fondmetal for the wheel rims, and Materialise for components created using fast prototyping.

The styling decisions

Romantic and noble. These two words sum up the styling of the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion. The archetype of the special car, an opulent two-seater roadster that conveys the luxury of the Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe, from which it derives, at the highest figurative and architectural levels. At the same time, it harks back to the past, and the cars of the pre-war period that now populate the world's most prestigious concours d'elegance.

To repeat the proportions of those unforgettable cars (a short tail end and majestic bonnet that "surges" forward), we had to extend the roof and shorten the rear end. To balance the volumes, the Pininfarina designers tried to achieve soft, fluidly flowing surfaces. The front sports the classic Rolls-Royce grille, which has been slightly inclined. A trapezoid plane creates a more aerodynamic dashboard, while the recessed Bixenon headlights and LED technology convey sportiness and elegance. The spectacular bonnet is underlined by the muscular, taut wings, while the line that embraces the front wheels is drawn back until it disappears into the hood cover, giving a sense of movement even when the car is stationary. This feature is counterbalanced by a small tooth under the door that runs towards the rear wheel. The shape of the rear end recalls Pininfarina's legendary sports "berlinettas" of the Fifties and Sixties, with their cut-off tails, strongly inclined downwards, with a flat closure borrowed from boat-building.

The interiors were practically unchanged, maintaining the perfect sense of high luxury in the passenger compartment that distinguished the original car. One precious detail of the instrumentation underlines the unique environment: the watch designed specifically for the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion by Girard-Perregaux, which can be removed from the dash and attached to a bracelet to be worn on the wrist.

Pininfarina and Girard-Perregaux: the emotion of excellence

Combining the excellence of a watch and a car that are out of the ordinary. This was the goal of the collaboration between Pininfarina and luxury Swiss watchmakers Girard-Perregaux. The meeting of two prestigious names that embody artisan tradition and cutting edge technology has created a refined timepiece with a sophisticated mechanism. Girard-Perregaux have personalised one of their sophisticated watches, the Vintage 1945 Tourbillion with gold bridge, for the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion. Thanks to an ingenious anchorage system, this timepiece can be mounted on the car's dashboard, or removed from its mount to slip on to its owner's wrist.

The pure lines of the white gold case, inspired by a model of 1945, contain a gold bridge tourbillon. This mechanism, which is faithful to the original design created by Constant Girard- Perregaux in the 19th century, stands out for its complexity: only an expert watchmaker could assemble the cage that weighs just 0.3 grams, carrying no fewer than 72 elements. The automatic movement was painstakingly built by the company.

The Vintage 1945 Tourbillion with gold bridge blends perfectly with the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion, starting from the colours of the face which match those of the bodywork. A sophisticated "spring-ball" system allows it to be extracted from the leather bracelet so that it can be mounted on the dashboard in a support in the shape of a whirlwind, or tourbillon, the hallmark of the Girard-Perregaux brand. This unique piece suggests the link between the worlds of prestige cars and outstanding watchmaking. Cult objects that transcend their function to arouse emotions that are constantly renewed.

Pininfarina and Girard-Perregaux: outstanding watches and cars share numerous common denominators: the notion of time, a fundamental factor of motor racing; increasingly refined techniques; and ever-present passion. In these two worlds, admiration for historical models goes hand in hand with the appeal of the most recent performances; the classic design shares the stage with daring concepts; cutting-edge technologies and noble materials are the key words of every successful innovation. High standards of quality, beauty, power and perfection even in the smallest detail, are essential components.

Girard-Perregaux bases its relationship with Pininfarina on a common conceptual approach, underpinned by a striving for excellence, emotions and beauty. And when passion encounters technical capabilities, the dream takes shape, producing the most refined mechanical structures.

Pininfarina Ferrari P4-5

What better place for the debut of Pininfarina's new creation than the most elite Concours d'Elégance in the world. The Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina is a one-off commissioned by James Glickenhaus, the American collector with a yen for the legendary racing cars of the Sixties.

The car has been designed, engineered and built entirely by Pininfarina, bringing to life something that, just a few months earlier, was just a dream and creating a sort of symbiosis between the customer and Pininfarina along the path leading to definition of this extraordinary model. Starting from a Ferrari Enzo, the aim was to produce a unique vehicle inspired by sport racing cars with extreme vocations: not just a show-car but a vehicle to be enjoyed on the road.

After freezing styling with various touch-ups to the initial sketches, the surfaces were defined using CAS modeling, then moving on to actual construction and assembly.

More than 200 components were specifically developed through constant interaction between styling and design: from the bixenon lighting clusters specifically designed with an innovative system of yellow and white leds to the alloy wheels - 20-inch aluminum - milled from the block, up to and including the aluminum and special steel in-sight hinges.

The sleek lines of the vehicle, characterized by a soft muscular touch, took shape on the body - made entirely of carbon fiber.

The tapered profile of the nose highlights both its aerodynamic function and the car's new look; the central body is dominated by the single-shell windscreen, while the car is accessed via two butterfly type doors.

The rear features powerful sides with the embedded teardrop type transparent rear window which also acts as engine cover and from which ceramic-coated exhaust tips peep out, as on racing cars of the Sixties. "The entire vehicle - stresses Ken Okuyama, Director of Pininfarina Styling - expresses elegance and fluidity with the clear-cut, uncluttered lines that are typical of Pininfarina's style. Our designer, Jason Castriota, succeeded very effectively in interpreting this approach to the project".

Considerable attention has been dedicated to aerodynamics with continuous testing at the Pininfarina Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Center of Grugliasco (Turin, Italy) in an effort to reach the highest levels of performance combined with perfect functionality of all the appendices integrated in the body of the vehicle.

"Each of these projects - comments Paolo Garella, Head of the Pininfarina Special Projects Division- represents an exhilarating challenge ,i.e. trying to meet the Customer's requirements in the best way possible without undermining the company's approach based on elegance and innovation".

It is important to stress how re-styling was not restricted only to the outside of the car but continued also when defining the interior, completely redesigned according to the customer's indications.

"These coach-built vehicles - concludes Andrea Pininfarina, Pininfarina S.p.A. Chairman and CEO - give us a chance to demonstrate our excellent creativity, making our know-how available to special customers in order to provide a real personal experience that goes well beyond simply the possibility of designing their own car".

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