Subaru has cooked up another electric kei car for me to park in my fantasy green garage, right next to the R1e and Mitsubishi i MiEV I don't currently have. It's a plug-in concept version of the Stella, and it will make its formal debut at next month's G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan. Five of the cars will be on hand at the conference -- four to shuttle folks hither and to, and one on static display as part of the on-site Environmental Showcase

The electric powertrain is the same one Subaru uses in its R1e demonstrator -- permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power output of 40 kW powered by a lithium ion battery pack. Operating range on a full charge is 80 kilometers, and the cars have a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). The plug-in Stella is an advance over the 2-seat R1e in that, like Mitsubishi's i MiEV, its wagonoid body is a far more practical package overall.

[Source: Subaru]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Mitsuibshi i MiEV (22 photos)

I drive a Ford Mustang GT; I'm Autoblog's resident HUMMER aficionado; and I think my favorite car in New York this year is a Japanese-market all-electric kei car. What is going on?

My dirty little secret (if you could even call it that) is that I'm also very much into kei cars. Often endearingly wacky-looking, the little city cars are packaging marvels, boasting roomy interiors despite their compact footprints -- and I love them. This year, the New York Auto Show is home to keis (the Mitsubishi i and Subaru R1e) as well as another JDM favorite, the Nissan Cube. What's interesting is that each one is on display as an all-electric vehicle. What was especially interesting to me is that Mitsubishi's electric i MiEV (it's pronounced "eye-meev", incidentally) was actually available for journalists to drive. So I drove it. Read on and watch video after the jump.



All "live" photos Copyright © 2008 Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc.

Honda Zest

Japanese kei cars, or "light automobiles," have become increasingly popular in Japan due to legislation making them cheaper to license, insure and pay taxes on. As a byproduct of their small size and small displacement engines, they are also generally quite frugal on gas and low on emissions. Because of their popularity, back in 2006, Honda bought a 51 percent share in Yachiyo Industry, a company which produces kei cars for Honda. Now, they plan to build an entire new plant dedicated to the manufacture of the mini-cars located near their existing Yokkaichi Factory in Japan. The 50 billion yen plant will be producing the front-engine Life and Zest kei cars, as well as the small 660cc engines powering them.

Honda claims that the new plant will be environmentally responsible, but fail to explain how. Based on Honda's past history, we have some amount of faith that the new plant will be as efficient and as eco-friendly as possible. We also appreciate the mini-cars that the new plant will be producing.

[Source: Honda]

Click image to enlarge

As part the ongoing testing with the "i MIEV" research vehicle, Mitsubishi has delivered one of the cars to the Chugoku Electric Power Co. Earlier this year, cars were delivered to Tokyo Electric Power and Kyushu Electric Power as well. The power companies are evaluating the kei-car-based EVs and testing them to gauge their compatibility with and overall impact on the electrical infrastructure. The car delivered last Friday is finished in yellow with white doors and "hood" (the car's motor, etc is actually mid/rear-mounted), which are also emblazoned with cutesy Japanimation/Hello Kitty-esque critters. Also: dig the lightning bolt icon on the erstwhile fuel filler door.

[Source: Mitsubishi]