Competition amongst the Japan’s domestic car makers has tremendously increased due to the introduction of electric vehicles. After Mitsubishi Motors introduced their oval shaped electric vehicle i-MiEV in July 2009, many Japanese car makers are trying to implement the electric car technology in their latest models to improve their sales.

Electric car models which will soon hit the Japanese market are i-MiEV from Mitsubishi, Plug-in-Stella from Subaru, EV II model from Toyota, next generation Swift and Alto from Suzuki and Nissan will launch Nissan Roox, Leaf and Land Glider.

The big automakers from Japan will be displaying their latest concept cars based on the electric car technology in Tokyo Motor Show 2009 starting from October 24, 2009. If you visit this grand show, you can get a good idea of cars which are expected to come out in near future.

Though there is lot of hype being created about electric vehicles, but one question is always being asked which is ‘whether electric vehicles can really help to control global warming?’ Well we will have to wait and watch to see the outcome.

There are many advantages of an electric car, but the main benefit of Electric car over conventional gasoline powered car is that fewer components are required to build up an electric car, due to which assembly of cars become easier and even small companies can produce such cars. Many major Japanese car makers are now are investing heavily in design and development of electric cars.

So would the electric vehicles become commercially popular as soon as they are released? According to critics, Electric Vehicles still have a long way to go due to two major shortcomings – its price tag and short range of commuting. For example, i-MiEV costs about 4.6 million yen compared to just around 1 million yen for a gasoline powered compact car. Also, the electric model i-MiEV can cover the distance of just about 120 km, at the speed of about 40-60 km/hr; after that the batteries need to be recharged.

This gives us clear idea that to travel long distances using electric vehicles, there should be good infrastructure for recharging the car batteries throughout the country. A normal charge at 200 volts takes about seven hours which makes this further impracticable. A high speed charger which can charge the batteries in just 30 minutes looks like a promising solution, but at present, the high speed electric charger stations available in Japan are limited.

Electric Vehicles also have a positive side; the Japanese government has declared exemption of car tax on all environmental friendly vehicles including electric car. Also, a typical recharge of battery costs just one tenth of normal gasoline tank fill. So, though the Electric vehicles are bit costly, their low cost of maintenance can compensate for your initial investment.

Technorati Tags: Japan, electric vehicles, Electric car, Japanese car, Japanese