Japanese electric car ‘goes 300km’ on single charge

 Japan’s Keio University professor and auto venture SIM-DRIVE president Hiroshi Shimizu unveils the prototype model of electric vehicle SIM-LEI, which is expected to go on sale in 2013, in Tokyo on May 18, 2011. The SIM-LEI, equipped with high-performance in-wheel motors, achieved 333km of driving distance, twice as long as the current electric vehicles with normal capacity Li-ion batteries. – AFP picTOKYO, May 21 – Japanese developers have unveiled an electric car which they said can travel more than 300 kilometres before its battery runs flat.

Electric vehicle specialist SIM-DRIVE, which hopes to take the car to market by 2013 but gave no projected cost, said its four-seater “SIM-LEI” had motors inside each wheel and a super-light frame, allowing for 333 kilometres of motoring on one charge in a test.

Its designers say they hope the prototype, a joint project among 34 organisations including Mitsubishi Motors and engineering firm IHI, will be sold to car manufacturers for mass production.

Automakers such as Nissan, which launched its all-electric Leaf last year with a 160-kilometre range, are gambling that electric cars with zero tailpipe emissions will catch on and, some time in the future, start to drive traditional petrol-guzzlers off the road.

Electric cars still face key hurdles such as costly batteries and the lack of conveniently-located recharging points, which limits their operating radius. – AFP

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Car Tech Live 207: Earthquake/tsunami cripples Japanese automotive industry (podcast)

Car Tech Live 207: Earthquake/tsunami cripples Japanese automotive industry (podcast) | Car Tech Live Podcast - CNET Blogs #overviewHead h1, #overviewHead a.blogName{ background: url(http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/ne/p/2009/cartechlive_banner_hed.jpg) no-repeat; } CNET Home log in join CNET welcome, my profile log out Home Reviews News Downloads Video Home Reviews News Downloads Video Join the conversation. close Like CNET on Facebook for the latest in tech news and reviews. Don't show this again Home CNET Car Tech Live Podcast Car Tech Live Podcast March 17, 2011 3:22 PM PDT Car Tech Live 207: Earthquake/tsunami cripples Japanese automotive industry (podcast) by Brian Cooley Font size Print E-mail Share Post a comment Tweet

The devastating earthquake and tsunami shuts down Japanese automotive plants, newcar hacks, and which car is the last to come with a cassette player.

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EPISODE 207SHOW NOTES

‧ Quake hobbles Japan's auto output

‧ Japan quake will disrupt car audio this year

‧ Toyota sees cost of fuel cells dropping dramatically in just a few years - will hydrogen have the last laugh?

‧ New report on ease of compromising cars without physical access

‧ Glenlivet 70 Year Old 1940

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Japanese car makers face struggle as earthquake hits suppliers

With 70,000 workmates based in Japan, the Union flag is also flying at half-mast at the Burnaston factory.

All staff in Toyota's 12 Japanese plants have been safely accounted for, but Honda has not been as fortunate. A worker died at one of its research and development facilities north of Tokyo after the roof a caved in, while 30 staff were also injured. At Nissan, the third of Japan's major automotive manufacturers, a factory 60km from the nuclear power plant at Fukushima has been damaged by fire.

The devastation has caused immense human cost across Japan. Over the next few days and weeks, it also threatens to see parts of the global automotive industry shudder to a halt.

Nissan restarted production at two of its Japanese plants yesterday, but work at all other major automotive factories is suspended until the weekend at least. This decision has already accounted for roughly 250,000 new cars, the equivalent of one-and-a-half months' of all new car sales in the UK.

At present, the car makers claim they can limit disruption from these stoppages thanks to their large inventories. In the UK, for example, where 33pc of all Toyotas sold are imported from Japan, Toyota says it has six weeks' supply of new vehicles. Nissan should also overcome any delay to sales of its new electric car, the Leaf, because it shipped the first 350 to the UK before the earthquake struck.

However, damage to the supply chain and Japan's infrastructure could cause a more lasting impact. The chief executive of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, said its supply base had been "devastated" by the earthquake. "Our best hope is that we start to produce again in two or three days, but not for very long as our supplier network has really been devastated," he added.

Most of the Japanese car makers are based south of Tokyo. However, Honda says it has about 113 suppliers based in the northeast area of Japan most affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

However, it is not just plants in Japan that could suffer the effects of the disaster. Nissan's Sunderland plant is the biggest in the UK and it sources 15pc-20pc of parts for its vehicles from Japan. Nor is it limited to Japanese car makers. According to one leading European manufacturer, there are 150 separate automotive suppliers in northeast Japan, many of which it uses.

Car makers have stockpiles of parts that will support production for up to six weeks. However, there appears to be a real threat of further delays to production among suppliers. Leading companies such as Bosch, transmission systems supplier Jatco, and ball bearings group NSK have either withdrawn workers from Japan or suspended production. Nissan says it has suppliers in the nuclear exclusion zone.

Evolution Time Critical provides emergency logistics to the automotive sector and says car manufacturers are "still trying to establish" the size of the potential issues in their supply chain, from tier one suppliers to raw material providers. According to Brad Brennan, managing director, roads and rail networks in northeast Japan have been destroyed by the tsunami, making it difficult to pick up and deliver components, while electricity blackouts will limit factory outputs and communication.

And even if components make it to the coast, exporting parts out of the country will be restricted by damage to ports – the tsunami swept away 2,300 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles waiting for shipment at Nissan's exporting facility at the port of Hitachi – and priority is being given to disaster relief efforts.

Paul Newton, automotive analyst at Global Insight, said: "Even if the Japanese automakers can resume domestic operations, exports of vehicles from Japan are expected to take some time, considering the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami to the port and road infrastructure in the country."

An alternative for the car makers is to source components from other locations. A spokesman for Honda said yesterday that, although 80pc of its tier-one suppliers are ready to start production, it is prepared to use components made in the US. Other options are Taiwan and South Korea.

However, Japan has gained a reputation for quality manufacturing and is the only supplier of some parts, especially for electric cars. As car makers in the country ramp up production after the disaster, they may find they have nowhere else to go. Stephen Taylor, managing director at consultants AlixPartners, said: "There are many semiconductor-parts manufacturers in the Northern Japan area. For example, the mountain area Nagano is known to have many precision manufacturers. If there is only one plant making something, some parts will be very hard to get back up for."

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