Mitsubishi Debut Solar-Powered Vehicle Charging Station

Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA, Inc. (Mitsubishi Electric) and Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) today debuted a solar-powered charging station for electric vehicles at the MMNA headquarters in Cypress, California. This charging facility, the first of its kind in Cypress, symbolizes MMNA's commitment to electric vehicle readiness, and will help kick off the preparations as certified Mitsubishi dealers become EV-ready in anticipation of the scheduled launch date of Mitsubishi i for each state. The charging station is powered by 96, 175W photovoltaic modules from Mitsubishi Electric.

This charging station will help support CHAdeMO compatible electric vehicles such as the Mitsubishi i, which will arrive in showrooms in November of this year. Mitsubishi i vehicles are now being reserved by prospective owners through a pre-order process available at i.mitsubishicars.com.

Able to charge up to four vehicles at once, the station features three types of chargers with different voltages: standard level 1 voltage (110v) will deliver a 100 percent charge in 22 hours on the new Mitsubishi i; level 2 (220v) which can charge the vehicle in six hours; and level 3 CHAdeMO Quick Charger, which can charge to 80 percent battery capacity in 25 minutes.

The DC Quick Charger used for the Cypress charging station is manufactured by the Eaton Corporation, and is the first-of-its-kind CHAdeMO Quick Charger certified for U.S. sale and public utility. The actual installation of the charging equipment and the supporting electrical infrastructure was handled by Rogers Electric. The twin-arch structure for the charging station was designed by California Green Designs.

The charging station is the first such collaboration between the two similarly named companies, whose headquarters are just a few blocks apart in northern Orange County. Situated near the junction of the 405 and 605 freeways, the hope is that the Cypress charging station, with its Quick Charge capability, can serve as a gateway charging pad for Mitsubishi i users commuting between Los Angeles and Orange counties.

"This project will build awareness of solar power's versatility and efficiency," said Katsuya Takamiya, president and chief executive officer, Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA. "As electric vehicles' popularity grows, we expect to see more charging stations at large employers, automobile dealerships, shopping centers and schools, where cars can charge while people work, shop or study."

Mitsubishi Motors North America President Yoichi Yokozawa said "We hope that our dealers, learning institutions, and municipalities will look to this technology with a keen eye towards the future, and bear in mind that the gradual acceptance of the pure-EV transportation will be aided by increasing the number of facilities like this one."

Mitsubishi Electric's solar panels are made with 100 percent lead-free solder, and have one of the higher sunlight-to-energy conversion ratios in the industry, adding to the project's efficiency and sustainability.

Mitsubishi's iMiEV gets better EPA rating than Volt, Leaf

Mitsubishi is today boasting of a double whammy when it comes to its new electric car. It not only will be cheaper to buy, but it will cost less in electricity to run than its major competitors.

The i, Mitsubishi Motor's all-electric vehicle, has garnered an EPA-rated 126 MPGe (that's gas-mileage equivalency, meaning how its electricity use would compare if it ran on gasoline) for city driving and 99 MPGe for highway driving. These numbers compare to Chevrolet Volt's 95 city/90 highway when running on electricity alone without its gas engine, or the all-electric Nissan Leaf's 106 city/92 highway.

"It means our electric drive train is more efficient. We will cost you less to operate," says Mitsubishi spokesman Moe Durand. "It will make the best use of its electricity."

But bear in mind, the i is a subcompact. The other two are considered larger, or compacts. As such, Durand says it may not be entirely fair to compare i to Leaf and Volt.

The new i, won't have the best range on a single charge. Mitsubishi says it will have a range of 62 miles before the battery needs to be recharged. The Leaf, by contrast, is rated at 73. The Volt only goes 35 miles on electricity alone, but the backup gas engine means there's no danger of being stranded without juice.

Mitsubishi will have a price advantage:

It will start at $27,990 for the base model before shipping charges are added. That's about $5,000 less than a Leaf and $13,000 less than a Volt.

"We feel that with the combination of capability, affordability, and high level of efficiency offered by the 2012 Mitsubishi i will prove very appealing to consumers considering EV transportation," says Yoichi Yokozawa, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America.

The i is now available for pre-order, arriving early in 2012.

Mitsubishi Motors unveils cheaper i-MiEV electric car

Mitsubishi Motors Corp launched two new versions of the i-MiEV electric car on Wednesday, slashing the price on one and extending the range on the other to appeal to more consumers in the nascent zero-emission field.

Mitsubishi Motors became the first major automaker to mass-produce pure electric cars with the egg-shaped i-MiEV and leads the segment so far with 10,000 vehicles sold globally since mid-2009. It has exported another 4,000 electric cars for sale under PSA Peugeot Citroen's brands.

Japanese rival Nissan Motor Co, which wants to dominate the electric vehicle (EV) market with its French partner Renault SA, has sold 8,500 Leaf electric cars globally since its launch in December 2010.

In the i-MiEV's first remodeling, Mitsubishi Motors will offer an entry-level "M" version, with a sticker price of 2.60 million yen ($32,000), down from 3.98 million yen, and a shorter range of 120 km (75 miles), compared with 160 km (100 miles) for the previous model.

After Japanese government subsidies, the M will cost the buyer 1.88 million yen, Mitsubishi Motors said.

"Costs have really come down dramatically," President Osamu Masuko told a news conference, adding that batteries -- the main reason for the relatively high price of EVs -- had more than halved in price in the last two years.

"We will try to keep the price down even when the subsidies go away," he said.

The higher-grade "G" version carries a suggested retail price of 3.80 million yen and can go 180 km (110 miles) on a full charge measured under a stricter Japanese fuel economy reading.

Mitsubishi Motors plans to sell 6,000 i-MiEVs in Japan in the business year to next March 31 and 25,000 EVs globally, including those produced for Peugeot-Citroen.

POWER CRISIS FANS DEBATE

The earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeast Japan on March 11 have ignited debate over whether the spread of electric cars would stall in a country facing a nuclear crisis, tight electricity supply and the possibility of higher electricity prices.

Masuko said he did not perceive any headwind for EVs, but rather a heightened need to develop renewable energy and multiple power sources. Electric cars, he said, could also be a useful source of power in an emergency by discharging electricity from their batteries.

"At first we wondered whether EVs could be useful in the disaster zones, and it turned out that they were because gasoline was scarce at the beginning," Masuko said. The Mitsubishi group has loaned 89 i-MiEVs free to the region's governments and others helping with relief efforts.

"Once enough gasoline became available we asked whether we could have them back, but we were told they were still useful so not one has been returned yet," he said.

Mitsubishi Motors said it hopes to develop and market within this business year a portable converter with enough output capacity to allow its electric cars to power household electronics such as rice cookers and washing machines.

A converter for laptop computers and other products that use less electricity is already available as an option.

On a larger scale, Japanese automakers including Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan and Toyota Motor Corp are looking to add a function that would enable EVs to discharge electricity directly to homes. The i-MiEV would be able to power an average household for at least a day.

With the proper control functions, that would allow households equipped with solar panels to charge their EVs during the day with clean energy, then use the power stored in the car's batteries to supply the household at peak hours.

Mitsubishi Motors will buy the smaller-capacity lithium-ion batteries for the i-MiEV's "M" grade from Toshiba Corp and continue using batteries made by its joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp and GS Yuasa Corp for the "G."

Porsche Le Mans Return Could be a Hybrid Admits Motorsports Boss

When Porsche returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in search of its 17th overall victory in 2014 the famed German sports car maker could rely on hybrid power to do so admits motorsports boss Hartmut Kristen.

Commenting in a release issued by Porsche on its return to the top-tier of sports car racing and the future of the program, Kristen said that, “the integration of our hybrid technology in the vehicle concept is one possible option.” Kristen is cautions, however, admitting that the entire plan would rely on exactly what the rules allow, but you can be certain Porsche is already lobbying the sport’s governing body.

Currently the LMP1 class is dominated by Audi’s R18 diesel race cars, with the only serious rivals coming from Peugeot with diesel technology as well. The reason for their success is fuel economy, with the diesels taking fewer pit stops to refuel. Porsche has already proven with its GT3 R Hybrid race car that it can achieve similar success using hybrid technology, taking the overall win in round four of the Nürburgring Long Distance Championship by requiring one fewer pit stop than the rest of the field. the GT3 R Hybrid uses a modified version of the original GT3 R hybrid powertrain, making 470-hp from a naturally aspirated six-cylinder boxer engine, with an additional 200-hp of electric boost available on demand.

Baring a miracle breakthrough in internal combustion engine technology between now and 2014, look for Porsche to take to the the LMP1 class with a hybrid race car.

Perhaps the bigger question would then be who Porsche will compete against. While Audi is the dominant force in the series right now it’s unlikely the two will square off on the track, considering they are both owned by Volkswagen. Does Porsche’s LMP1 success depend on the end of the Audi program?

Japan Post Service starts testing Nissan NV200 Electric Van

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. will begin global proving tests starting July 2011 of an electric vehicle (EV) based on the compact commercial vehicle NV200. For the first phase, the Japan Post Service Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Shinichi Nabekura) will carry out a test in Japan starting July. One test vehicle will be provided to carry out postal collection and delivery tasks for approximately two months in the city of Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture, to evaluate the vehicle's capabilities under a customer's normal usage conditions. Later, similar proving tests will be carried out both in Japan and Europe, where similar evaluations will be carried out with other companies.　　
　　　　　　　　　　
Japan Post Test Car　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
"The role that can be played by zero emissions vehicles in promoting a balance between economic growth and environmental protection in the realm of logistics is large" said Nissan Corporate Vice President Hideto Murakami,　responsible for the Global LCV Business Unit. "We will certainly reflect the customer feedback gained from these proving tests in our future product development, and I expect that our commercial electric vehicles based on the NV200 will contribute to our customers' business and to the development of a sustainable society".

The NV200 was recently chosen as the next generation New York taxi. It is a model aimed for customers around the world, the next-generation compact commercial vehicle suited for a wide variety of situations including business, daily use, or leisure. The NV200 is available in Japan and Europe since FY2009 and China and Singapore from FY2010, and future launches are planned for the U.S. and India. In total, the NV200 is sold in approximately 40 countries throughout the world, and has received positive feedback from customers for its spacious interior, fuel economy, excellent driving performance, and attractive design. At the end of 2009 it was awarded "International Van of the Year 2010" that was based on the selection of journalists from 20 European countries. In March 2011, it was awarded the "Universal Design Award", one of the most authoritative awards in universal design, and the "Universal Design Consumer's Favorite Award", marking the first time in automotive industry to be awarded both awards.

A Nissan Leaf Laps Laguna Seca [video]

Stock Nissan Leaf at Laguna Seca for Refuel 2011. Best lap during the TT event was a 2:10.

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In this episode of Fullycharged Robert Llewellyn makes a quick visit to the YASA motor works to see their developments in electric motor design and construction.