Toyota's hybrid car Prius stays strong in popularity in the car market. On the other hand, electric vehicles (EVs) or "zero-emission vehicles" are being marketed in Japan in full force. EV is not a novel product that appeared all of a sudden but has been produced for many years, only in a limited quantity. What is striking now is that they are being manufactured for the use of individuals. It might happen that the year 2010 becomes a milestone in the EV history.
EVs manufactured so far failed to become low-end cars because they were so inferior to gasoline cars in efficiency and pricey that they did not catch much attention. It was totally inconceivable to develop electric butteries to enable EVs to match gasoline cars traveling 500 kilometers on a tank of gas. However, technological advances have made it feasible. The catalyst was the lithium-eon battery. Its power is twice as strong as the lead battery. It still cannot be equated to gas engine, but has reached a practical level with run of 150 kilometers on full charge, and with no emission of carbon dioxide.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. got a head start with "i-MiEV" in this new challenge. It is an EV model developed based on Mitsubish's "i"-type minivehicle. The company started to sell this new product for corporate use last year and is selling it for personal use as well since spring this year. Its body design goes well with the EV concept with battery-packs put in place beneath the floor, making the inner room as spacious as that of a normal car. When you drive the car, you feel such mighty driving force of motor that you will almost forget that you are in the minivehicle. It can go as far as 120 kilometers with one full charge, and the smooth drivability is quite comfortable. With no noise of engine, you would inexplicably be filled with a sense of being in a high-quality car.
Another EV that is to be put to market this year is Nissan Motor Co.'s "LEAF." Unlike the four-seater minivehicle i-MiEV, this is a normal-size passenger car for five people. It is an EV that Nissan is going to introduce to the world market, putting the future of the company at stake. Loaded with lithium-eon batteries, the car has a cruising range of 160 kilometers on full charge.
EV is considered as means of urban transport and its advantage is in extremely low cost of charge (nearly one tenth of gas) by using household late-night electricity. It takes seven hours at 200V household power source for full charge, but if you drive i-MiEV to a downtown quick-charge station and ask the staff for charge, they can electrify 80 percent of the batteries' capacity in 30 minutes. It takes many more minutes than to fill a gasoline car, but you will soon get used to it.
As for the car price, i-MiEV and LEAF cost nearly three million yen each with an aid of the government's grant money. They are still costly compared with gasoline cars in the same categories, but are expected to become less expensive when they come into wide use. It is a matter of time.
What pleases EV users is that power-supply infrastructure is being built up at high speed. In the metropolitan areas like Tokyo and Yokohama, the quick chargers have been installed at nearly 100 locations such as rest areas of expressway, gas stations, and car dealership. At most of these places, drivers can charge the batteries for free for the time being. The equipment will be installed at convenience stores and supermarkets in an accelerated pace from now. Even if the mileage per charge is relatively short, the range of activities can be broadened as much as that of a gasoline car once the power-supply facilities become available near at hand. EV's cost performance is so much tempting.
