Our man in Japan, Peter Lyon, has driven the newest eco-mobile, the Subaru Stella Plug-In electro-box.
The profoundly unsexy Stella Plug-In uses the body of the standard Japanese-market Stella, (which is typically powered by a 660 cc gas engine) and the 63-hp electric motor and lithium-ion battery from the company's R1e development vehicle. For perspective, the hot-rodded Stella RS, with its tiny supercharged motor makes the same 63 horsepower.
Range and the time needed to re-fuel don't quite match the performance of the gas version though. The vehicle will go on sale to the general public (the general Japanese public, that is) in April 2010 for the equivalent of $47,900...wait...what? Well, after various national and regional government rebates, the Stella Plug-In will still be a not-insubstantial $29,000.
Kind of puts GM's Volt pricing struggles into perspective, no?
Read Inside Line's first drive report on the Subaru Stella Plug-In.
estreka says:
12:02 PM, 06/16/09
Makes ya wonder why the EV1 was so cheap all those years ago...
danielpund says:
12:55 PM, 06/16/09
It was cheap only to those that leased it. It wasn't exactly cheap for GM.
firstwagon says:
01:42 PM, 06/16/09
It also used lead acid batteries which are much cheaper then the more modern batteries (which are more like you would find in your laptop).