EVs are big business these days. Almost all manufacturers are developing EVs or have production ready EVs all set to take the market by storm. Some manufacturers such as Nissan have already started selling EVs (Nissan Leaf) despite of the infrastructure crunch in US. Stricter emission norms, rise in pollutions, fear of global warming and many other reasons contribute to the popularity of EVs.
Now, India’s most popular hatchback – The Swift is also heading the EV route. In an effort to showcase its prowess in making small cars, Suzuki will bring 3 unique concept to the Tokyo Motor show, one of which is the Swift EV Hybrid.
The Swift EV, as a project, was conceived a long time back for the States. Unfortunately, due to lack of resources and rising yen prices, Suzuki had to shelve the plan. Later, Suzuki hoped to tap in to some technologies from their partner VW, but that partnership is now hanging by the cliff.
Finally Suzuki engineers have got their act together and a concept version will debut at Tokyo Motor show. However, it is not be a complete EV like the Nissan Leaf. The Swift EV will have a range extending gasoline engine just like the Chevy Volt. The Swift EV runs like an EV for daily commutes of 11.2 miles. When the battery wears down, a gasoline-powered engine generator kicks in to recharge it.
Stay tuned as we get you more images from the Tokyo Motorshow.
Source: Autonews
[...] show with a number of ‘green’ vehicles. The most interesting of the lot is the Swift EV which was teased before the show. The Swift EV uses the current platform and harnesses power from the combination of an electric [...]
Well Kaustubh, at “globalsuzuki.com” website the magazine vol. no 132, corrosponding URL:”http://www.globalsuzuki.com/gcm/vol132/index.html”, after turning few pages, Suzuki had claimed to launch Swift pHEV to the dealers on September 2010. What happened to their plan? Didn’t they launch the product?
According to that link, that was just a pilot project in Japan. I really don’t know what happened to the project. I guess they must have integrated all the information from the pilot in this new Swift EV
PS: Thanks for sharing
Thanks
At this stage of time a hybrid EV seems to be better option than pure Ev in India…