Nissan EV charger smaller, cheaper
Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2011
Kyodo
Nissan Motor Co. will launch a smaller, cheaper and faster electric vehicle charger in Japan in November.
The charger will be nearly half the size of the older Nissan charger now on sale and can be installed more easily, the company said Monday. The new model retains the high performance of the older one, it added.
While the older charger sells for a suggested price of almost \1.5 million, the new one is likely to cost significantly less than \1 million.
It is compatible with electric cars made by not only Nissan but also by other automakers as well.
In charge: Nissan Motor Co. chief vehicle engineer Hidetoshi Kadota demonstrates how to charge an electric car during a media event unveiling a new, smaller charger in Tokyo on Monday. AP
トヨタの電気と燃料セルの将来車
Toyota concepts await show
Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011
By HIROKO NAKATA Staff writer
Ahead of next month's Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday unveiled two fuel-efficient concept cars, one an electric vehicle and the other a fuel-cell vehicle.
New wheels: Toyota Motor Corp.'s Aqua hybrid, which will be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in December, is shown in a handout photograph. KYODO
The concept EV, called the FT-EVIII, has better range and speed characteristics than previous models. The auto giant has said it aims to start selling electric vehicles in 2012.
The FT-EVIII has a range of 105 km on a full charge, and it has a maximum speed of 125 kph.
The earlier FT-EVII concept car unveiled at last year's motor show can run 90 km and has a maximum speed of 100 kph.
Toyota also took the wraps off the fuel-cell concept car FCV-R, based on a sedan. It is more compact than the previous FCV, which was based on a sport utility vehicle like the Toyota Kluger.
The carmaker said it plans to release fuel-cell vehicles onto the market by around 2015.
Toyota also unveiled a prototype compact hybrid that it plans to launch in late December.
The car, called the Aqua in Japan and Prius c in other countries, can travel 35 km on 1 liter of fuel.
The Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public on Dec. 2, will feature 15 Japanese auto brands and 25 foreign makers.