Tech | January 05, 2009 | 28 comments

Japan races to build zero emissions electric car

source: http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24874450-31037,00.html

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UWAZell
PLEASE erase your image of electric cars being like golf carts," a spokesman for Japan's fourth-biggest car maker said before taking a zero emission vehicle out for a spin.
As mass-produced electric cars come closer to reality, their makers are trying to polish the image of what experts say could be a hard sell in the current recession.

"It's fast, powerful and smooth,'' Mitsubishi spokesman Kai Inada said of the iMiEV electric car, which is due to be launched next year.

Zero emission vehicles may not be a novel concept for long.

Japanese carmakers are racing to develop electric cars, and US and European manufacturers have also announced plans to roll them out within a few years.

The dream of an electric car, which has been around since the time of Thomas Edison, has so far failed to break into the mainstream because of limited battery life that makes such vehicles impractical for most purposes.

But after technological breakthroughs in the development of long-lasting lithium-ion batteries, soon it may not just be Hollywood stars who are zipping around in zero emission automobiles.

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Mitsubishi's electric car now runs 160 kilometres on one charge, which takes 14 hours when using a conventional 100 volt outlet on the wall, or 30 minutes to charge 80 per cent of the battery using a special quick charger.

With the help of Government subsidies, Mitsubishi aims to sell its iMiEV at a price of less than ¥3 million ($45,900) as early as 2010.

"The price and the short mileage per charge are the two biggest challenges we must address,'' admitted Kazuhiro Yamana, head of Mitsubishi's public relations department.

"But we expect that technological breakthroughs in lithium-ion batteries will continue, realising longer distances - for example triple the current distance in 10 years,'' he said.

Nissan aims to start selling an electric car in the United States and Japan in 2010 and the rest of the world in 2012.

Other Japanese car makers have been working to create fuel cell cars, which produce electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, with water the only by-product.

Fuel cell cars have a number of advantages over electric cars, said Honda engineer Michio Shinohara.

"Most users are not satisfied with the mileage'' of electric cars, he said. Honda's latest fuel cell car, the FCX Clarity, has a cruising distance of 620 kilometres per charge, and takes just three or four minutes to recharge.

Honda began selling the latest FCX Clarity in the United States in July, with the first five cars to be delivered to celebrities including film producer Ron Yerxa and actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Toyota, which has already won strong interest in its petrol-electric hybrids, is developing a range of fuel cell, electric and other clean cars that run on biofuel or clean diesel.

Toyota says its fuel cell car FCHV-adv can travel 830 kilometres on a full tank of hydrogen, but it may not see mass production until 2016.

Fuel cell vehicles belch out none of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, but their high cost and a lack of hydrogen refuelling stations pose obstacles to mainstream use.

"You need to have hydrogen stations,'' said Toyota engineer Kazuyoshi Tasaka. "But it requires a Government policy to build up such an infrastructure.''

So far, the Government-backed Japan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Demonstration Project has constructed 12 hydrogen stations nationwide, with plans to build more stations for commercial use from 2015.

But experts question how much interest there will be for electric cars.
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28 comments // Japan races to build zero emissions electric car

  • eldiablo
    • 0
      eldiablo  

    • Those little car look cool. I would get one if they were affordable for the common person. And if, they can be safe against an suv, and as well if they didn't leave any wast. Those batter are going to be a big wast after they won't work any more.

    • 4 years ago
  • AlvinLam
    • 0
      AlvinLam  

    • Thats pretty cool, but don't you think we should have done this years ago? I bet they were just thinking of the money but now since global warming is happening now they are changing their minds.

    • 4 years ago
  • sushikillakid
  • RaceBannon
    • 0
      RaceBannon  

    • Here you go DontTrip:

      People engineers already designed a car that runs on compressed air ages ago.

      We're totally getting screwed. However if the consumer demands it then they might come out, but that would take an organized effort to sway the desires of consumers to this type of vehicle. Hmmm anyone here work at a pr firm?

    • 4 years ago
  • DontTrip
    • 0
      DontTrip  

    • America makes too much money from oil. I don't think car company's will allow these innovations to be released as long as they can overcharge everyone with oil prices and make the maximum amount of money that they can. They don't car about the environment they only care about $.

      French engineers have already invented a safe emission free car that should be the on the market for everyone. It runs completely on compressed air, is safe, cheap, and has excellent driving distance. When I first read about this I was amazed and I don't know why more people don't know about this. Spread the word, the only way we can change the world is through awareness.

      check out french air car on YouTube. it will blow your mind

    • 4 years ago
  • Pimsey
    • 0
      Pimsey  

    • There is NO such thing as a zero emissions car. The very manufacture of the car will create emissions. The power it uses will create emissions, even if those are 100km away at a coal or natural gas burning power plant.

      Finally, if you trade your car in on one of these, in all likelihood your old car will be back out on the road with another driver behind the wheel.

      My opinion? Use your current car wisely, make it last a long, long time. Drive a little less, walk a little more and take public transport whenever it's available.

    • 4 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  
    • Pimsey:

      I think the goal is to produce a car that runs on zero emissions, which is something we need in this day and age. The more cleaner running cars we can get on the road, the better.

      We create harmful emissions by everyday activities that do not even involve motor vehicles. Does this mean we should not find a better and more efficient way to preform simple everyday tasks, including driving a car?

    • 4 years ago
  • Pimsey
    • 0
      Pimsey  
    • Pimsey:

      In a word, No. We should find better ways to do this. I object to this "Zero Emissions" badge with which this article bestows (repeatedly) on this vehicle.

      It seems that every "green" solution these days involves the building of something, be it a consumer good or a new "more efficient" roadway or public works project.

      The concept of "Consume your way to a greener planet" is ludicrous at best, don't you agree?.

    • 4 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  
    • Pimsey:

      Right now, we're consuming our way to a dead planet. We have to do something to improve the way we live or it will die. If you can think of a better way to build a car or anything that causes less pollution then do it. Otherwise I'm afraid you're being overly critical of greener technologies with no alternative solution.

      Less consumption isn't going to work either. How can it? People won't even stop littering, you think they're going to voluntarily walk anywhere they don't have to? We as a people are lazy, self-centered, and won't do anything until it's cool and hip. Conservation isn't hip but green technology is, and it holds the potential of changing our nature of high consumption.

      Innovation takes time, and with time we can eventually outgrow our dependence on fossil fuels. However, we will never innovate anything using the same failed combustion technology we've been using for over 100 years.

    • 4 years ago
  • RaceBannon
    • 0
      RaceBannon  
    • Pimsey:

      Zero emission is a technical error, possibly a slogan (I used to work at a pr firm, uhhh I loathe crap like this). However a clean emission is possible.

      Basic science: convert one form of energy to another or cause a chemical reaction that produces energy and the byproduct is emission.
      Those are the options, choose wisely.

    • 4 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  

    • Is it funny that Japan is trying to build a zero-emissions electrical car while America is limiting electrical car technology while moving AWAY from enviromentally-friendly vehicles?

      America: Where corporate capitalism beats enviormental issues, heath care issues, human rights issues, etc.

    • 4 years ago
  • NYDON
  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
    • 0
      SHAWN_RITTIMAN  

    • Tell us about the damn Subaru in the picture! Its sexy like my 88 Justy 4x4 was. Subi's kick ass and they were the only car company to pull a profit in 2008!

    • 4 years ago
  • johndeworde
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  

    • Good point Dmitri...

      Although a smaller car can come in handy.

      Say, for example, your at the mall and you see an open parking space....but the two massive SUV's on either side are both over the yellow lines (because they are so massive they have no choice) significantly reducing the size of the parking space.

      In that situation only a smaller car could park between the giants. Another SUV simply wouldn't fit.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dmitri_Molotov
    • 0
      Dmitri_Molotov  

    • How are we supposed to erase the image of electrics being "Golf Carts" if virtually every image posted of one looks like the one above? Golf Cart!
      Follow the example of the Tesla and make it like an actual CAR. Not some tiny, pathetic fucking subvehicle seemingly designed to punish the driver.

    • 4 years ago
  • CalgarC
    • 0
      CalgarC  

    • so basically its nothing new. the Japanese have advanced clean technology and the Americans say they will get to it in a few years :D

    • 4 years ago
  • UrbanGypsy
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  

    • We usually hear that the big "limitation" of electric cars is driving distance.

      Most electric cars get 100 miles per charge (or better!)

      So the theory is that 50 percent of American drivers who routinely (keyword) drive less than 100 miles a day would NEVER (Heaven forbid) buy shuch a vehicle because the range is too "limited."

      It's not an either/or scenario.

      Make the damn car and those of us driving less than 100 miles a day (waaaay less in many cases) will buy them and that small, small, SMALL segment of the population that regularly drives 200 miles plus a day can just go ahead and buy regular gas powered cars. We need to get real and stop pretending that 90 percent of drivers in America are pouring on 300 miles plus per day! It's simply not true.

      But then again if Ford and GM say it's true...maybe it is? It's not like these geniuses have ever been really REALLY wrong about drivers, driving and consumer habits in the last 30 years....have they?

      College students, retirees, people that live close to work, people who want a 2nd car for brief errands....all of those people who would buy a low range (is 100 miles per charge really "low" range?) electric vehicle are denied the possibility on the theory that they "wouldn't buy it if we made it."

      The only thing I don't buy is their excuses for why they refuse to join the 21st century and give up on building Hummers.

    • 4 years ago
  • Ricky84
    • 0
      Ricky84  
    • crob80227:

      Crob you love to simplify issues and then berate individuals/groups/companies for not seeing things your perspective. Case in point, I’m pretty sure car companies are aware, at least to some degree, how much their customers drive. They do give out advice based on accurate assumptions; change your oil every six months, or let your turbo idle for at least 1-2 minutes at the end of a moderate drive.

      At any rate I you’ve neglected to consider the wider picture. You can’t just look at the total distance an electric car can travel you also have to consider whether the system is efficient enough to be economically viable. Electric cars are already at a disadvantage to gas powered cars because they cost more. When you addthe increase in fuel costs it becomes pretty apparent why everyone is not driving electric cars right now.

    • 4 years ago
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  
    • crob80227:

      Your not making sense Ricky84.

      The costs are fairly comparable.

      And even costing slightly more...the EV1 was a wildly, widly popular car. That is to say....if they SOLD these cars instead of merely leasing them (and this was YEARS ago) they would have made a fortune. They chose instead to haul them into the desert, destroy them, and go back to mass producing SUV's (which cost way, way more than an EV1).

      And when you say, "Factor in fuel costs" I'm not sure what you're trying to say.

      Many EV1 users (and many electric car owners in general) say that it is far, far, far cheaper to charge up their eCars than it is to fill up their gas cars.

      So, yes, I'm 100 percent correct for pointing out that it was idiotic for them to simply pull such a hot item as the EV1. It made as much sense as Apple simply discontinuing their iPod line and then focusing instead on manufacturing audio tapes!

      There is simply no way to rationalize or justify such a boneheaded move by the American auto industry.

      They had the auto version of the iPhone right in their hands! Their biggest problem were the massive waiting lists of people that wanted to get one. It just boggles the mind that any company would take such a hot item and just totally give up on it...even to the point of refusing to sell the existing EV1's to the lease holders who BEGGED to pay cash for the privledge of owning the car.

      Had they kept the EV1 in production and kept working on the car and perfecting it they wouldn't be asking for a billion dollar bailout now.

      Their new headache would be trying to build enough new factories to keep up with the demand for their electric vehicles.

    • 4 years ago
  • Ricky84
    • 0
      Ricky84  
    • crob80227:

      Crob no one is going to buy an electric car just because it’s electric, especially if it costs more than a regular car. However as soon as someone designs a car that is comparable in price to a gas powered car (in total value and expense through the course of its life) then we will have electric cars.

      The EV1 was ridiculously expensive . The battery system alone was twice the cost of a small car and had to be replaced every 25,000 miles. Even if you paid below the national average for electricity, a civic with a leaky gas tank would easily outpace the EV1 in terms of affordability and efficiency.

      I can’t you would actually cite the EV1 as an rebuttal, lol. Total mileage traveled over the course of the cars life does not factor into this discussion whatsoever. In addition, there’s a pretty good reason why that car was only available in Cali and Arizona. A 3000+ pound subcompact running on paper thin, 80psi tires is a death trap unless your driving in absolutely ideal weather.

    • 4 years ago
  • cerealforeal
  • UWAZell
    • 0
      UWAZell  

    • I high doubt the release of an electric car would make car companies obsolete due to the fact that they will continue to improve the technology and design will constantly evolve as with petrol based vehicles. However, who this would undoubtedly prove problematic for are the oil companies who have a vice on the wallets of just about everyone whether you own a car or not [consider rising cost of foods due to shipment and rising cost of petrol]. I would not be surprised if big oil fought the release of such vehicles 'tooth and nail' as they say.

    • 4 years ago
  • xxxCiscoKiDxxx
    • 0
      xxxCiscoKiDxxx  

    • It'll be a beautiful day when everyone is driving around in hybrid and/or electric cars.

      But, RaceBannon touches on a real subject. Some of these technologies have been suppressed to further line the pockets of various companies (oil, etc.).

      Thinking of it too much is exactly what the world needs. The more we stand still and let the history of mankind be led down an unsustainable path, the worse off we'll all be.

    • 4 years ago
  • RaceBannon
    • 0
      RaceBannon  

    • It will never come out in the US. I've read and seen all the latest engineering innovations, but I never see these things come out. The reasoning is various legal restrictions apparently setup to prevent the car companies from making themselves obsolete. The companies argument is that this keeps people working, however its likely to make profits. So you have to either release the car that runs on air/water and think that most companies will never sell a car again, or just accept that hybrids will be the new standard. Its mind boggling.

      Seriously the way we do things is sooo f'ed up its better not to think of it too much..

    • 4 years ago
  • mindcontrol
  • crispyfritters
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