The Low Down On Green Living
June 18th, 2009
Subaru Charges Into Electric Cars With Stella EV
Stumble it!
Written by Andrew Williams, courtesy of Gas2.0
Subaru has become the latest in a long line of car manufacturers to start producing electric cars. The Japanese company plans to start selling a compact all-electric plug-in number called the Stella EV in Japan over the coming weeks.
Unusual for such a compact EV, the Stella boasts four seats and a top speed of 60 mph, which is likely to prove just about bearable to drivers using it as a second car for city use (photo gallery after the jump).
The Stella features a mains-charged li-ion battery, capable of a 15-minute fast-charge to 80% of the maximum, delivering a range of around 55 miles. Subaru has announced an initial run of 170 cars, which will available to Japanese customers in July. The price has been set at ¥4,725,000 (around $49,000) but buyers will be eligible to apply for a ¥1,380,000 (around $14,000) Japanese government subsidy through its Next Generation Vehicle Promotion Center program. Additional tax reductions are also expected to further encourage buyers following special measures brought in by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
No news yet on a global release but we’ll keep you posted.
Click here to see more photos.
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Comments
Alecia
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 am
$49,000? That’s not affordable.
Pauline
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:05 am
Top speed of 60mph and a range of 55 miles? Hopefully this is just a stepping stone and eventually they’ll get the faster, longer range electrics they had in the 90’s.
Pauline
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:08 am
Yeah, $49K doesn’t sound very affordable, but it makes it less painful when you consider how much less expensive the electricty will be. And if it’s anything like the electric cars that were out awhile ago, I believe there are fewer maintenance trips (such as oil changes, no catalytic converter to replace, etc). I wonder who’s eligible for the $14K subsidy?
David Tannen
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Back to the drawing board for Subaru. This is not an affordable or even usable vehicle in most places in the USA.
Steven Rondeau
June 27th, 2009 at 6:40 am
Unless there is a huge innovation in battery technology, you probably won’t see complete electric vehicles…
I think Low Impact Living needs to look at the cradle to grave on these vehicles, the amount of resources use to build, operate over the lifetime and recycle electric vehicles is much more than hummer, let alone a Honda Fit.
We would be better off using the power of the Sun and water to produce hydrogen that can be used in IC engine.
Much lower impact on the Earth and environment, and can be produced domestically, plus if there is an accident and the hydrogen gets loose, if dilutes easily in the air, and doesn’t pollute
We need better thinking, not regurgitated ideaa
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