Archive for the ‘Tokyo’ Category

Back in August, Viknesh Vijayenthiran reported on rumors that Honda would launch a zero-emission battery electric vehicle in the US by 2015. The vehicle in question was described as a lithium-ion battery-powered minicar, and there was some speculation that Honda would unveil a prototype at the Tokyo Motor Show this October.

The rumors stemmed from articles in several Japanese media outlets, including the Nikkei daily, but they were  never officially substantiated by Honda -- until now. The company's CEO, Takanobu Ito, now admits that he would consider developing EVs for American, European, and Japanese markets. That's not saying that he or ...

We haven't mentioned Shai Agassi and his outside-the-box startup, Better Place, in some time, but we're happy to report that the man with the battery-swapping plan has been hard at work in the interim, convincing bigwigs in Japan to give his unique system for electric vehicles a test run.

The Better Place pilot program will take place in Tokyo and will center on taxis operated by the city's largest taxi company, Nihon Kotsu. Why the focus on cabs? Because Japan has so many of them -- 60,000 in Tokyo alone -- and although they only make up about 2% of the vehicles on the roadways, they account for 20% of the CO2 generated by automobiles.

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Nissan may have the most aggressive plans of any major automaker to produce fully electric cars. The company has said it expects to sell up to 100,000 EVs globally by 2012, using lithium-ion cells from its joint venture with electronics powerhouse NEC Corp.

While Nissan provided us with a first drive of the 2012 Nissan EV powertrain, it has released no details of the electric car itself. Now, Autocar magazine says the car will be a midsize five-door hatchback, with dedicated styling not used for any other Nissan.

The design is likely to be unveiled at either the Frankfurt Motor Show in September or the Tokyo Motor Show in October. But ...