PSA Group, which includes Peugeot, Vauxhall, DS and Citroën, has announced a new platform which will cater for larger EVs and hybrids. Called eVMP, the architecture will be used for a host of new C- and D-segment vehicles with the first planned for 2023.

In the past 12 months we've written numerous stories about the two platforms that PSA Group has used to underpin its major electrified releases. CMP is the basis for cars like Vauxhall Corsa-e and Peugeot 208-e and will also be used in the forthcoming new Vauxhall Mokka. The other so-called 'multi-energy' platform, EMP2, is used for the Group's PHEVs such as the Peugeot 508 and DS9 E-TENSE.

Whilst neither of these is exactly long in the tooth, PSA is moving from its two 'multi-energy' platforms to two 100 per cent electrified platforms between now and 2025. The all-new eVMP (electric vehicle modular) platform is a key part of this plan and represents a truly global solution to the Group's forthcoming range of new vehicles. From 2023, the group will launch EVs in the C- and D-segments including regular saloons and hatches, through to SUVs.

For reference, the C-segment includes cars like the Vauxhall Astra, whilst the D-segment would include cars like the aforementioned Peugeot 508.

The platform has been developed to support a variety of battery sizes beneath the floor with designers having achieved 50kWh per metre within the wheelbase. PSA says that eVMP can house batteries with a capacity from 60 to 100kWh with the target WLTP range being between 250 and 406 miles – a figure which obviously depends on the body style.

Whilst we suspect that here in Europe PSA Group brands will use the eVMP platform solely for pure electric vehicles, it will also support hybrids for other markets.

A key part of the development, which should be of benefit to us when new cars hit the forecourt, is how PSA's R&D team has managed to keep development costs low. In particular they have been able to “use of certain sub-assemblies and existing high-performance battery modules". In addition, "the industrial process has been studied to obtain maximum synergies with the existing means in their plants, therefore limiting investments”.

Essentially, it has been able to carry over components from the current EMP2 platform, and therefore doesn't have to completely re-tool its factories to get the new architecture off the production line.

Nicolas Morel, R&D Director at PSA, said: “This global platform will make it possible to offer a range of vehicles that are perfectly respectful of the environment, meeting the changing expectations of our customers and guaranteeing driving pleasure and safety on board, values that are the basis of the Group's reputation today."

Discover EV's take

Platforms and vehicle architecture don't make the most exciting news, but their development is fundamental to the future for EVs. That PSA has pushed on with developing the eVMP now in order to support the electrification of C- and D-segment models shows it is on time and on target to deliver its electric promises.

The 2023 launch of the platform, with in the Group's 2020-2025 plan, suggests that in the next round of refreshes for major models, EVs will be front and centre of what's offered. As such, cars like the Vauxhall Astra and Insignia, Peugeot 308 and 508, DS E-TENSE models and equivalent Citroën models – as well as new vehicles – will all come with a plug rather than a petrol tank.