Zero-emission vehicles

A car that has neither an engine nor a muffler will debut on the Japanese market next month. Developed by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. the "i-MiEV" is the world's first mass-produced zero-emission minicar that does not need an internal combustion engine because it runs on a motor charged with electricity.

The car may usher in a new age of driving that does not require petroleum fuel.

Mitsubishi's sales target for the i-MiEV in fiscal 2009 is a modest 1,400 units. The company will sell the vehicle only to corporate and government customers until April 2010, when the general public will also be able to buy this green car. The company hopes to sell 15,000 units during fiscal 2011.

The i-MiEV's per-kilometer cost of electricity is only 3 yen, considerably less than the price of gas for the same distance. However, the car itself is certainly not cheap--about 3.2 million yen if the buyer qualifies for a government subsidy for green-car owners.

The i-MiEV can travel 160 kilometers on its lithium-ion battery pack, but it will take 14 hours to fully recharge the battery from a 100-volt household power outlet.

In terms of price competitiveness and user-friendliness, the i-MiEV is not even close to hybrid cars already being marketed by Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Unless Mitsubishi corrects these shortcomings, the i-MiEV may have a tough time.

That said, however, the i-MiEV's merits are remarkable. It emits no carbon dioxide (CO2). Even when taking into account CO2 emissions at the power plants that generate the power needed for charging the car, it emits only about one-third of the CO2 of a gasoline minicar. The i-MiEV certainly reduces the "original sin" of automobiles that have polluted the environment with exhaust, and helps to curb global warming.

Other Japanese automakers are entering the market. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. will start selling its electric vehicle next month, while Nissan Motor Co. will reportedly begin production in autumn 2010 of about 50,000 units per year. Once solar power becomes a readily available energy source, it will no longer be a dream to fill the roads with zero-emission cars.

We eagerly await further technological developments and hope the prices of such vehicles will reach affordable levels.

Ford Motor Co. of the United States ushered in the "century of automobiles" with its Model T, the world's first mass-produced gasoline car. General Motors Corp., which overtook Ford and became the top-selling automaker in the world, filed for bankruptcy protection last week, making us aware that the age of gas guzzlers has ended.

Now, Japanese automakers are leading the way to a new century of non-gas eco-cars.

While makers need to keep striving for greater efficiency and safety and better prices for their customers, the popularization of green cars is also contingent on other factors, such as the availability of government subsidies for buyers and securing the rare resources needed for battery production.

Another issue is that even if the batteries can be easily recharged from household outlets, the overall carbon footprint will not necessarily shrink if there is increased coal-fired power generation that produces a lot of CO2.

It will be necessary to make cleaner alternative resources more available, such as solar panels--and not just for households.

About five years ago, Mitsubishi was in a crisis because of a recall coverup scandal. We believe the automaker is now staking its reputation on electric vehicle development out of a genuine desire to rebuild itself. Some Mitsubishi people say they have yet to fully recover the trust of consumers.

The development and successful marketing of green cars are vital to the rebirth of the struggling auto industry. We would like "Made in Japan" to come to mean "safe, affordable and green."

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 10(IHT/Asahi: June 11,2009)