Posted 04.26.2010 at 3:14 pm
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There are currently more than 60,000 taxis cruising around Japan, a number that accounts for 20 percent of the country's CO2 emissions. To promote environmental health, the Japanese government has joined with Better Place, a US firm specializing in electric vehicle development, to come up with a solution: electric taxis powered by replaceable batteries. Today, three of the taxis will begin their circuit during a 90-day experiment funded by Japan's energy agency.
In a blog entry written for Better Place's website, Kiyota Fujii, president of the firm's Japan unit, explains how the vehicles run continuously. Unlike many other EVs, which need long recharging periods after half a day's work, Better Place's taxis can make periodic stops at battery-exchanging stations. It takes less time to switch the batteries than it does to fill a conventional vehicle with gasoline.
Nihon Kotsu, Japan's largest taxi operator, has also partnered up with Better Place to provide drivers for the vehicles. Fujii said that he is certain that the city's experiment will encourage automakers around the world to follow suit by producing eco-friendly, economically-sustainable vehicles en masse.
[PhysOrg]
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yeah nissan
This sounds like a great system, as long as they standardize the batteries. As long as all the cars are Nissans there will be no problem, but if other car companies get into the EV taxi market they will have to agree on a common battery type. On the whole this is a very clever solution.
Does anyone fact check this stuff?
"60,000 taxis cruising around Japan, a number that accounts for 20 percent of the country's CO2 emissions"
Impossible. Maybe 20% of vehicle generated CO2 emissions.
Imagine the improvements in this technology in the next 10 years and then making it mandatory that say, all yellow cabs in New York City be electric or zero emissions. There are approximately 12,000 yellow cabs in New York City alone.
Now add to that about 6000 buses in NYC that must be electric or zero emissions.
Can you imagine the cost savings and environmental impact?
I know. It just makes too much sense.
Very few good ideas are still good ideas after someone makes them mandatory. This is a good idea. Making it mandatory is a very bad idea.
Nissan is pushing hard into the future while some other automakers are burning the midnight oil to find ever diminishing ways of tuning the ICE. More power to Nissan.
assuming that all evs have the same battery type, we can just swap out a battery, charge the old one, and when someone else needs a battery swap, they get a newly charged one while thier old on is being charged for the next customer.
i hope that electric cars start to look a bit nicer. i really liked the denki cube concept it's too bad nissan didint make it
Is this a prototype of the nissan leaf?
@surge64
the nissan leaf is a much smaller car.
i think it would be cool if they refreshed the datsun 510 and made it electric
Battery switch outs are a good idea (unless EESTOR finally comes true) .... but getting manufacturers to agree on a standard will be a nightmare (witness the plumbing industry, or ink jet cartridges) Profit and greed always win out over common sense. What could be a reality for EVs is this; as we rebuild our interstates, ad an EV lane, which would have an induction strip imbedded.... cars would pay a toll (profit) and then pick up the juice similar to a slot car. When you exit,go back to battery power.....
comments? Let me know at "Gina's Greena Page" at www.ginamaseratti.com