Most likely no one will remember anything but the STI from Subaru's press conference today in Tokyo... mainly because the other two cars will never inspire philosophical debates on steering feedback or the proper use of the word fugly. One of them was the Subaru G4e Concept, an electric car with a lithium-ion battery pack mounted under its floor. In our full story, we were underwhelmed by its scant 200-km driving range, which is exactly the sentiment you'd expect from California-based writers.
However, after examining the car in the metal, we came away with a slightly higher opinion of the G4e. First, Subaru has obviously given some thought to how one might compensate for the massive amount of weight battery packs add to a car. In addition to mounting the pack low, the company designed an aluminum chassis for the G4e, which is unheard of in a subcompact.
Second, the G4e apparently has twice the range of the Subaru R1e, a pilot electric car project being conducted by Subaru and Tokyo Electric Power Company. Forty regional sales reps and government officials are currently using them as commuter cars, and we're sure they'd take a G4e if given the choice. A limited-production version of the G4e, or at least the technology within it, will be in service by 2010, says Subaru.
Finally, the concept car's cheery red and white interior turned out to be even cheerier than we'd anticipated. You can't make it out in the photo, but the foot wells are carpeted in faux fur. -- Erin Riches, Senior Content Editor
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