Subaru's electric kei car, the Stella plug-in, is about to be introduced at the G8 summit in Hokkaido. When the initial release went out, it was said that five cars would be built, four of which would shuttle various dignitaries around the summit while the last one would sit on display. According to a report on Just-Auto (sub. req'd), though, there is yet another vehicle which will be delivered to Japan Post. You may recall that the Japanese mail delivery service had recently announced that it will switch over to a fully electric fleet as soon as possible. Though the Stella uses the same powertrain as the R1e, it houses it in a much more practical body style. Reading between the lines a little bit, which doesn't always prove all that accurate... but whatever, we wonder if Subaru specifically had the mail carrier in mind when it decided to show off this particular electric vehicle.

[Source: Just-Auto - sub. req'd]

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]