Subaru, has been getting pretty cozy with its Prius-building partner of late, but when it comes to hooking up with a battery supplier for its own green automotive solution, the R1e, the car maker might be singing a different tune. Namely, 'Don't Fence Me In." During a recent vehicle launch, Fuji Heavy Industry's president, Ikuo Mori, made his opinion on the subject clear: "It's not necessary to stick to Toyota and Panasonic. We want to procure (batteries) from whoever can offer reasonable prices with good quality," he said to Dow Jones newswires. In any case, although their immediate needs should be quite modest, Toyota might not have a lot of spare capacity for Subaru anyway.

We're not sure if they have their roaming eye on a particular provider yet though there are some interesting players out there. It could just be they have their battery questions already answered but are trying not to tip their hand. As usual, we'll let you know if they're holding aces or jokers.


[Source: Just-Auto]

Click image for a gallery of the Subaru R1e in New York

That Subaru R1e caught driving the streets of Manhattan over the weekend foreshadows the expansion the car's field-test program to the United States. Subaru is expected to make a formal announcement within the next hour or so, but we can preview it for you here now. The New York Power Authority (NYPA) will receive two R1e vehicles to pilot in the same way the cars are being used in Japan.

To recap, the R1e is a full-EV version of the Japan-market R1 microcar. Driven by a 40 kW motor powered by a Li-Ion battery pack, the R1e is being field-tested by employees of both the Tokyo Electric Power Comany and NEC Lamilion Energy, Limited. The Japanese government lauded this effort last year. There are currently forty of the cars in service in Japan and Subaru hopes to bump that number to one hundred. When connected to a quick-charger station that's also part of the pilot testing, an 80% charge can be achieved in just 15 minutes. When plugged into a standard household outlet, the car will fully recharge in 8 hours or so. Operating range, according to Subaru, is 50 miles and the car boasts a top speed of 65 miles per hour.

The R1e will be on display at the 2008 New York Auto Show starting this weekend, and we'll update this post with Subaru and NYPA's formal announcement as soon as it hits the wires.

UPDATE: Official Subaru announcement has been added after the jump.

Click image for hi-res photos of the Subaru's EV display at Geneva

While the Legacy Boxer Diesel was technically the big showpiece for Subaru at Geneva, a glance at the automaker's booth showed that electric vehicles were given equally prominent billing. The R1e was set up alongside the G4e concept that made its debut at last year's Tokyo Motor Show. The R1e is an all-electric variant of the Japan-only R1 microcar. Right now, 40 of the Pokemon-looking EVs are in service with Tokyo Electric Power Co. in Japan, where they're being field-tested by employees. When connected to a quick charger, its battery power can be replenished in just 15 minutes. Fully charged, it has an operating range of around 100 kilometers. Next year, Subaru hopes to increase the test fleet to 100 cars.

The G4e represents Subaru's longer-term goals. Equipped with Li-Ion battery technology, the lightweight 5-door EV concept should offer double the range of the R1e. In his remarks to the assembled media, Fuji Heavy Industries president Ikuo Mori said, "Subaru's goal is to become the leading brand in the electric vehicle market." He then added that the automaker would continue its EV development programs with an eye towards creating the ultimate zero-emissions car for urban commuters. Something like that G4e with a legit 125-mile range would look mighty attractive with oil prices being what they are today.


[Source: Subaru]

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:

• Subaru's all-electric R1e wins Japanese government award

[Source: Newspress, Subaru]

Japan's Minister of the Environment likes Subaru's R1e, a small electric vehicle the Japanese automaker developed with Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. (TEPCO) and NEC Lamilion Energy, Ltd. The award is called the '2006 Commendation For Global Warming Prevention Activity' and goes to the R1e and its high-speed charger, which can charge the city car in about 15 minutes (standard outlet charging takes eight hours). Either option gives the R1e a range of 50 miles and a top speed of 62 mph. The most impressive number is that the life of the high-density lithium-ion battery is estimated at 10 years or 124,000-plus miles.

TEPCO said it plans to have 150 fast-charge stations and about 3,000 EVs in Kanagawa prefecture in the next five years. Customers interested in the R1e, which should go into production in 2009, can look forward to a 90 percent reduction in car taxes and purchase taxes as well as discounted parking and highway fees.

Related:

• Subaru's zero-waste factory wins EPA award

[Source: Subaru UK]