The French brand is about to launch a new electric model, the Ion. But to many people, including myself, the Ion is not a Peugeot. It’s a Mitsubishi I-MiEV with a Peugeot badge on the hood. With a stronger dealer network, this Japanese-built French car might have more success in Europe than Mitsubishi could ever dream of, but that won’t make Peugeot’s image any brighter to me, even if they manage to get some very famous customers, and the first Spanish one certainly is.

Queen Sofía of Spain will now use a Peugeot Ion for her royal local errands. I’m not sure it will save much energy since she always has 2 other cars (not electrics) full of security officers behind her, but it’s a start. Actually, as a royal, she has many facilities to drive an electric car. She has a large garage with a plug, with staff on hand in case she wouldn’t have the time to plug her car herself.

I also guess that she never does long trips by car, or at least with her driving. More than anything, the queen Sofia won’t have the ability to drive cross-country, since the car is not at her regular home, but at the Marivent palace, in Palma on the island of Majorca, where the royal family holidays each summer.

Electric cars bring good PR. I’m pretty confident we will see many more rich and famous people getting one, and that’s good. The more we talk about electric cars, the more people will hear about them, and ultimately want one.