Wheel Fever - by Craig Hill

Subaru has just joined Mitsubishi and Smart in the push to put effective, affordable plug-in electric cars on Australian roads.

It is using its stumpy Stella city car as the teaser, with preview drives and a high-profile appearance at the Melbourne Motor Show so people will know it is serious about effective battery-powered green cars.

Mitsubishi and Smart are pushing hard to have their cars on sale in 2010 but Subaru is taking things slower and there is no firm timetable yet for the Stella, or the plug-in cars to follow it.

"It's very much a long-term project. Subaru will have an electric car on sale in Japan this year but it won't come here in the short to medium term," says the managing director of Subaru Australia, Nick Senior.

"It's a domestic program for Subaru at this stage. They are telling is it is very, very low volume to start."

Even so, Subaru Australia wants people to know it has the technology to compete with the plug-in leaders and that the Stella, even though it looks like a tiny box with a battery, is a genuine runner.

"It's an electric car. It's the future," says Senior.

"We are going to be one of the first companies in the world with an electric car on sale. We have brought the car here to show what is possible. There are challenges involved, but it's here and it's driveable."

Subaru planned a huge test drive program but was reigned-in by the Department of Transport and Road Safety, which ruled the single Stella could not be driven on public roads. Instead, the first drives in Australia were restricted to a go-kart track in Melbourne.

Senior says Subaru is already working on a business plan but is struggling to make the numbers work, at least for the Stella.

"We wouldn't even consider it at this stage. The cost would be prohibitive," he says.

"One of the biggest issues in the short term with these cars is that they are going to be expensive."

But he believes Subaru, which is working on exclusive battery technology, is pushing ahead quickly on plug-in technology.

"We need longer travel times and shorter charge times. This does only 80 kilometres between recharges."

Senior is only admitting to long-term goals with the Stella but believes it will lead to serious Subaru electric cars.

"Basically, if you turn off your fridge in the kitchen you can run the Stella," he says.

"But I wouldn't expect to see anything serious on sale before the middle of the next decade. There is a lot to be done to make it viable, starting with the charging infrastructure as well.

"But the industry is proud of meeting the challenges over the past 10 years on a range of fronts and it is responsive and aware of all the electric car issues. We'll get there."

Herald Sun

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Posted By: Paladin - Category: Japanese Cars, Electric, Subaru

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Aussie Car Costs 1.4 Cents Per Kilometre

February 12th 2009 10:57

Imagine a car that costs 1.4c/km to run… now it’s a reality.

The almost imperceptible hum of the electric motor and the cooling whoosh of the wind are shattered by one comment from the car's driver.

“If we built this without the proper parts or the know-how in six months, why is it taking car manufacturers so long?” says Professor Thomas Braunl of the University of WA's engineering faculty.

It's difficult to argue. Some university students and their lecturers purchased and transformed a 2008 Hyundai Getz from a petrol-fuelled hatchback to one running solely on plug-in power.

It cost $15,000 in materials _ most had to be purpose-built because the components aren't available off the shelf _ and in the real world, perhaps the same again in labour. This is in addition to the purchase of the car.

Hyundai Getz Electric

The bonus is that it costs 1.4 cents a kilometre to run _ about 10 per cent of its petrol-fuelled equivalent.

“If you recharge at night, using off-peak power, it's less than 1c a kilometre,” Professor Braunl says.

“It will charge in four to six hours and that's enough for 100km.

“As a household's second car, these are perfect. They produce no emissions, use no fossil fuels (dependant on the electricity source), are simple, quiet and reliable.”

The UWA uses roof-mounted solar cells to create electricity to run the car, making the car operate without any greenhouse gas contributions.

The conversion required removing the conventional 70kW petrol engine and its ancilliaries _ exhaust, fuel tank, cooling system and clutch _ while retaining the five-speed manual gearbox.

Under the bonnet went a 28kW electric motor and its controller, with a 144-volt lithium-ion battery pack set in a safety cage within the boot.

Despite the addition of the large battery pack and the electric motor, the Getz weighs the same as its petrol donor.

But the conversion requires some different thinking. There is very little heat from the motor so unlike a petrol engine _ where the heater and demister use the heat from the coolant _ the electric car must have an ancillary heater.

It also requires small electric motors to run the power steering and the brake system's vacuum pump. The airconditioner needs a bigger motor to operate the compressor.

Driving the car is as easy as switching on and pressing the accelerator.

Professor Braunl suggests keeping the transmission in third gear. It will accelerate as briskly as the petrol car and without needing to change gears, reach 110km/h.

A full load of passengers _ it'll take five adults at a pinch _ may require using second gear and it's possible to select fourth or fifth for country driving.

Basically, because of the inherent low-rev torque of an electric motor _ it produces maximum torque at 1rpm _ the driving characteristics are radically different to an internal combustion-engined vehicle.

A buzzer fitted to the UWA car warns of excessive accelerator pressure in an attempt to improve economy by extending the range.

A simple digital readout on the centre console acts as the fuel gauge.

“If the readout gets to about 20 per cent (of charge remaining) then you should start looking for a place to recharge,” Professor Braunl says.

While stationary, the energy consumption of the car is 0.8 amps. Use the steering and brakes and that rises to 3 amps. Turn the lights on and it becomes 4 amps and press the accelerator lightly and the drain is 75 amps. Maximum acceleration will draw 150 amps.

The DC system isn't as sophisticated as the AC units which, amongst other benefits, has the ability to accept regenerative braking energy. But the DC is simpler and significantly cheaper.

“Part of our research is to test the benefits of DC over AC. It may be that DC is more applicable to certain driving conditions than AC, for example,” he says.

The Getz was purchased new last year by the UWA without any financial assistance _ despite appeals _ from the car company. Sponsorship has come only from the WA Government's Department for Planning and infrastructure.

That hasn't deterred Professor Braunl.

“We have purchased a Lotus which will be converted with a high-performance AC electric system,” he says.

“The cost is much higher than a DC. The Getz 144-volt motor was about $3500 but the high-performance AC motor with 350-volts is about $30,000 _ it's a very big gap.

“We plan to have three cars operating at the same time _ one being built, one being tested and the other being used.

“The Getz will be sold at the end of next year. I've already had five serious bids and even requests for us to build cars.

“There's a lot of interest.”

The Sunday Times

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Posted By: Paladin - Category: Korean Cars, Electric, Hyundai

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Mitsubishi i MiEV Electric Car

January 29th 2009 08:20

The first plug-in electric car for Australia is the Mitsubishi i MiEV.

The tiny battery-powered city car has been confirmed this week for local trials in February, edging out upcoming electric contenders from Smart, Nissan, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

There is no firm sales plan yet, but Mitsubishi Motors Australia is keen to turn the i MiEV trial into much more than just a dummy run — with genuine local deliveries sometime in 2010.

"We are going to do this. We're the first ones to put it out there," says Rob McEniry, managing director of Mitsubishi Motors Australia.

"There is a lot of talk about electric vehicles, but this will test the true appetite. We'll see whether it is factual or just fluff.

"We are ready to go for 2010, if the price is right and the market is there."

The first i MiEV will be on the Mitsubishi stand at the Melbourne Motor Show from February 27, with a second car setting out soon after for a national tour of politicians, governments and major fleets.

McEniry says there will be an even bigger event before the end of the year before Mitsubishi decides if it will go ahead with sales in 2010.

"This is not a 'might be', this is a 'what is' from Mitsubishi. We'll have a car on the stand at the motor show and another ready for driving," he says.

"Later in the year we want to bring some more cars out for some customer evaluations. That will be fleets and things that can spend a bit of time with the vehicle. This is very much market testing. This will be the real thing that's in the market today in full trial in Japan."

McEniry believes there will be demand for the i MiEV — which can be charged from a regular household power supply — but is not sure yet on the reaction to buying and running a car in the real world.

"We're going to take the car around Australia and allow various groups to see the vehicle and give us some feedback. We're very interested in what they have to say," he says.

The big questions are the price of the car, the warranty back-up and the infrastructure needed to support any sort of serious fleet of electric cars. McEniry is well aware of the challenges and preparing to work through them in time to get the i MiEV into showrooms.

"We know the target price, but we won't talk about that for the moment. Initially it will need some support form the customer base, if it's a government department or fleet," he says.

"It depends on the demand. We might do it on a lease. We're really not sure yet."

While there is uncertainty on the showroom plan for the original i MiEV, a five-door hatchback based on a Japanese city car, Mitsubishi is pushing into the next phase of its electric car program.

It will unveil a second i MiEV, this time an electric sports car, at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

The newcomer — called the i MiEV Sport Air — shows that the electric cars could become a whole new family for Mitsubishi, with the potential for more than just short-haul commuter work.

The Sport Air uses Mitsubishi's latest lithium-ion batteries and a high-torque engine for sports car acceleration.

It says the idea is to go beyond a green car to something people also want to buy for driving, thanks to low weight, strong acceleration and good cornering grip.

But Mitsubishi is keeping quiet on the details, beyond releasing two sketches which show the thinking behind the design of the Geneva Show car.

Herald Sun

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Posted By: Paladin - Category: Japanese Cars, Electric, Mitsubishi, Melbourne International, Other Shows

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