Demand for Electric Cars Rising in Japan

CHAN:
Petrol prices have fallen sharply, but carmakers still have high hopes for the Japanese market for electric cars. They are adhering to tougher emissions standards and are eco-friendly to boot. Lets take a look at a car expo in Tokyo.

STORY:
At one Tokyo car expo some of the latest in electric cars are on display.

A wealth of hybrid vehicles are already on the road, but car industry executives say the race is still on to create a commercial vehicle which runs solely on electricity.

Tokyo-based Auto EV Japan unveiled the upgraded "Girasole Elettrica," an electric car imported from Italy. They sold more than 120 of them in the Japanese market last year.

The car is now capable of running at a maximum speed of 65 km/h. Before the Japanese upgrade it ran at 45 km/h.

It costs about 100 yen, thats about a dollar, for a 7-hour, fully charged car to travel before running out of power.

[Kiyoshi Ito, Auto Ev Japan]:
With gas prices going up and down radically these days, an increasing number of people now appear to think they cannot really depend on fossil fuel and electric cars are the way to go -- not just from an environmental point of view but from an economic point of view.

Another electric auto company, Tokai Denshi, showed off a sleek, futuristic sports car. Its an attempt to shake off the old image of function-driven electric cars.

[Shigeaki Kubota, Tokai Denshi]:
"People used to think electric cars are heavy and clumsy, but we wanted to revamp that image and make our customers realize that electric cars are actually cool.

Manufacturers say the cost performance of electric vehicles is almost 10 times better than ordinary fuel powered vehicles.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ntd
• electric car
• japan
• petrol price
• eco-friendly
• economic

[Anothercoilgun]

Using gasoline for cars and homes is the most idiotic concept in human history. Gasoline should be for one time portable purposes like camping, running generators in remote places. Oil is meant for long timer products like plastics which last for years and are recyclable.

The instant you put flame to gasoline it is gone for ever. The second you draw current from a battery, you can refill it with the natural rays of good old star Sol for nearly free, minus cost of solar installation.

[heartlessvietboy]

Japan will lead the world in Electric Propulsion Automobiles. 

[DBSpy1]

Those aren't cars yet,they are still golf carts.

[tempeztad]

I cant imagine a world with the sound of a rb or a 13b engine sob stupid battery cars sound like freaking rc cars but i guess the circumstances atm are priority still...

[joshua1auhsoj]

Can anyone tell me why electric cars are better than gas cars? electricity is produced from coal. coal is a fossel fuel. i dont get it.

[tannagra]

America, as I recently found out, had electric cars over a decade ago, and then decided to smoother them.

The thing with the Japanese is they're wizards at utilising forms of technology and radically improving them, so America better get a shift on or they, and everyone else, will get left behind.

[jvmalum]

I think you'll be surprised how fast they will catch up as I believe they have had all of this tech worked out for probably 10 to 20 years or more.

[Zagretay]

The Japanese need to lead in this and I am sure Americans will buy their products. then the US Auto makers will have no choice but to catch up with Japan and China.

[shakaama]

bah, i don't think them arabs can handle those kamazi warriors. they don't take no ... uh ... stuff.

but serously, japan doesn't have oil. they have a lot of technology though. no reason they can't make it eletric.

[SeventhSun]

Then the Saudi oil sheiks will declare a Jihad against Japan?

[shakaama]

i hope the japanese blow this one away and come home with a friggin gold medal. we need someone to break away from the heard mentality. japanese is primed to break the market, because they do not produce oil themselves.