Fuji Heavy Industries, by way of its Subaru brand, has developed a concept all-electric car using the newer, Lithium Ion batteries. They’re using a new manganese-based Lithium Ion cell that solves the runaway and overcharging problems typical of cobalt-based Lithium Ion batteries and can be charged very rapidly.
<blockquote><p>The lithium-ion batteries, co-developed by a joint venture of Fuji Heavy and NEC Corp., only take five minutes to be charged 90 percent, the company said. The car can be driven more than 150,000 kilometers without needing a change in battery.</p></blockquote>
<p>There’s even a movement that’s sprung up around these cars. <a href="http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=642">They</a> intend to pressure Subaru into bringing these cars to market. Yahoo! Group <a href="http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/evworld">here</a>.</p>
<p>On the National Security front, a group called <a href="http://www.setamericafree.org/">Set America Free</a> is <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20050813/ca_pr_on_wo/hybrid_tinkerers__bgt">attracting</a> some heavyweight support for the cause:</p>
<blockquote><p>plug-in hybrids are starting to get the backing of prominent hawks like former CIA director James Woolsey and Frank Gaffney, former president Ronald Reagan’s undersecretary of defence. They have joined Set America Free, a group that wants the U.S. government to spend $12 billion over four years on plug-in hybrids, alternative fuels and other measures to reduce foreign oil dependence.</p></blockquote>