Peugeot BB1 EV Hits the Paris Boulevards

PARIS — Peugeot knows that the true arbiters of French urban style can be found on the grands boulevards of Paris. That's why it took its BB1 microcar concept out around town to meet "Parisians and fans" ahead of a tour of many of Europe's hippest cities. The BB1 EV debuted in September at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show.

The BB1, the French automaker's "urban mobility project," is a full-electric four-seater that measures a mere 98.4 inches in length. Peugeot is promoting it with a sense of humor: "Its grandfather was a pepper mill," for example. The concept has already known a bit of succès d'estime: 15,000 Facebookers signed up as fans in three days after the BB1 fan page was launched, Peugeot brags. Peugeot filmed passers-by and showed their reactions to the little car. The BB1 spent two autumn days in Paris, finishing with a lap of honor on the Champs-Elysées and finishing up at Peugeot headquarters.

Next on the agenda: city tours of the same type in Frankfurt, London, Milan, Berlin and Madrid before returning to Paris in December. Does this presage a production green light? Peugeot hasn't yet said.

Inside Line says: Ah, autumn in Paris...chestnuts grilling on street vendors' carts...a lovely time to tour the city in a car barely bigger than one of those carts. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent