[Above: The Mitsubishi i-MiEV and two Zeco shooters at Singapore's first solar-charging station at the Singapore Polytechnic.]

By Christopher Tan, Senior Correspondent

i-MiEV NABS TECH AWARD

Mitsubishi Motors' i-MiEV electric car has landed the Japan Car Of The Year 'Most Advanced Technology' award. The compact rear-wheel-driven five-seater was recognised for being the first production lithium-ion battery-powered family car.

Mitsubishi has sold 1,400 units in Japan and bookings for another 900 can be fulfilled only next year. Britain will be the first export market, with cars arriving in December. Singapore is expected to get its cars by the middle of next year.

Meanwhile, the Japan Car Of The Year award went to Toyota's new Prius. The third-generation Prius hybrid delivers more power while being more fuel-efficient.

The car has been the best-selling model in Japan for five months now, accounting for almost 11 per cent of new car sales.

POLY'S FUEL CELL VEHICLES

Temasek Polytechnic's $18-million Clean Energy Centre is working on fuel cell vehicles (including a boat) with ultra-capacitors for supplementary power. Ultra-capacitors act like batteries, but are lighter and less costly. Power retrieved from heat and braking is stored in them. The stored power is then released when needed, such as during hard acceleration.

BMW once experimented with super-capacitors for its hybrid cars but decided to go with lithium-ion batteries.

ELECTRIC CAR MEET

An electric car conference is slated for Nov 20 at the Meritus Mandarin. Called Plug-In Singapore, it is 'dedicated to making the electric vehicle infrastructure a reality in South-east Asia'.

Speakers include experts from World EV Association, General Motors, Detroit Electric, Ecotality and AeroVironment.

COST HURDLE FOR GREEN WHEELS

German automotive parts and systems maker Bosch says the internal combustion engine will continue to rule for decades to come.

Mr Klaus Landhaeusser, its South-east Asian external affairs manager (diesel systems), told delegates at this week's 2nd Road Conference that high cost will be the main hurdle for alternative power vehicles. For instance, he said a fuel cell car will cost around ?500,000 (S$1.03 million) - more than a supercar.

And he claims these cars may not be as clean as they seem. He pointed out that the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels produces as much carbon dioxide each kilometre as a Lamborghini Gallardo sports car.

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