Another plug-in electric car from Japan based on a popular production model, Subaru's groovy little R1e is a battery-powered version of the home-market R1 two-seat microcar.
The company claims a 50-mile charge will cost less than two dollars, and that the car's lithium-ion batteries can attain 80-percent capacity in a scant fifteen minutes. A standard household outlet will provide a full recharge overnight.
An AC permanent magnet synchronized motor producing 40 kW (54 horsepower) gives the little city car an ample 65-mph top speed.
The company is currently evaluating 40 examples of the R1e on Japanese roads, with an additional 100 coming in 2009, and the New York Power Authority is about to get two cars to initiate U.S. testing. Note to Subaru: Feel free to park one in this writer's driveway anytime.
Take that, Smart.
More photos after the break, courtesy of Subaru.
