Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Subaru, Geneva Motor Show
Geneva Motor Show: Subaru will bring Justy back, is considering all-electric small car
AutoblogGreen readers are no strangers to the R1e (see this previous post, which garnered some good comments), but I think most of the world is fairly unfamiliar with this tiny all-electric car. This may change, though, if Subaru comes through and makes the R1e widely available as a small, zero-emission commuter vehicle, either in Japan or the UK.
All that Subaru is saying on its official media website is the following [FHI is Fuji Heavy Industries, which owns Subaru]:
At present, ten units of the Subaru R1e electric vehicle are used for daily business operations by The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (TEPCO), Subaru's joint development partner, for road-testing with an eye to a market debut down the road. FHI intends to commercialize the Subaru R1e as a short-distance commuter car based on the Subaru R1 minivehicle currently available on the Japanese market.
A TEPCO-developed high-speed charger that will charge 80% in no more than 15 minutes will be also showcased.
The Newspress staff is on site in Geneva and, in a story on Subaru's revival of the Justy program later this year (more on that in a bit), once again brings up the possibility of the R1e being on dealer lots, but don't seem to have found any fresh information. They claim that the R1e is "already in production and 30 cars are being used in an experimental EV scheme in Tokyo." Currently, Subaru doesn't have many low-carbon emission vehicles for sale in this range, and with the exemption from the London congestion charge, an R1e could find a willing audience in the UK.
Now, about the Justy small car program. Newspress says that since Subaru and Toyota are in a new relationship (Toyota bought GM's Subaru stake), a new Justy based on the Daihatsu Sirion city car is in the works (Daihatsu is also effectively part of the Toyota group). Newspress says the Justy will be restyled with a Subaru "face", but will essentially be the same as the Sirion.
Related:
[Source: Newspress, Subaru]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
M. 6:46AM (3/08/2007)
I still like the current Justy that is based on the Suzuki Ignis.
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John 11:17AM (3/15/2007)
I live in South Florida and would be ready to purchase an electric vehicle at a reasonable price. Between $20,000 and $30,000. I don't want an EV with a max speed of 35 MPH, and a battery life of 60 miles. The EVs of the 1995 era went much faster and could be driven for at least 100 miles. Technology is out there for a 250 mile range battery, unfortunately some organization has squashed it. What a shame that the EV1 from General Motors was pulled and scrapped. Does anyone know how I can get an Electric Vehicle with a decent range, and a better max speed?
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Rich 11:34AM (1/24/2009)
There are a few bullet points to remember:
1) This car is being marketed primarily for short-range commuters, given its maximum range of about 50 miles. Some folks are concerned that if they live in an apartment or work in a city, where would they plug it in? Another poster mentioned there is a very real prospect of a roof-mounted solar charger which could work while one is at work, assuming you could not plug the car in with an extension cord neither at home nor at work.
2) Another poster nailed it when (s)he mentioned the taxpayer bailouts as an impediment to innovation. Let them fail. They are not "too big to fail" except maybe in the minds of the politicians.
3) As far as the poster who lamented "this is a car they will never see," refer to #2 above. That is the only reason our car companies don't develop something like the R1e. They don't have to. And they don't have to because of...well...refer to #2 above.
4) I know a fellow ham radio operator who owns a small manufacturing company in Waltham, MA, who converted his Ford Escort to full electric power. It has a range of about 30 miles (he lives 15 miles from work.) and he provides a couple of charging stations at his company. That is the future as long as the feds don't get in the way. I know this from personal experience. I run a landscaping company and modified my diesel-powered dump truck to run on waste vegetable oil. I also asked one of our state reps to introduce a bill which would waive our state's gasoline tax for vehicles that ran on alternative and renewable fuels. One of the two biggest opponents of the bill was a lady who works for the state department of environmental services. Further, she cited the federal Clean Air Act as a possible impediment to the bill. For more info on this go to our landscaping website http://www.kahnlandscaping.com and click on "Tofu Truck."
5) For more links on the R1e, go to http://www,subaruhighmileageclub.com.
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