Reports suggest that the plug in hybrid of the Swift hatchback from Suzuki, which was first unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2011, is expected to be rolled out in Japan by the end of current year.
Automobile companies from Japan have always pioneered and introduced innovative and new technology to power cars globally. In a significant development, Suzuki Motors have succeeded in obtaining approval from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Transport and Tourism to power their new cars with the plug in swift technology. Under this new licensing agreement, license and registration formalities will be possible without physically producing the plug in swift to the concerned ministry.
The first swift plug in Hybrid car was introduced in 2009 at the Tokyo Auto Show. The concept of the swift plug in is that it is an all electric car which obtains power from a 0.66 liter gasoline engine, which in turn powers the power train switching to electric mode. This power train has a peak capacity of 55KW.
Incidentally, the New Suzuki Swift plug in is the third generation set of cars which is manufactured in Hungary for European markets. The electric motor is powered by a 2.66 K Lithium ion battery assemblage with a capacity to travel approximately 15 kilometers without ever draining once, if charged fully. The beauty of the swift plug in concept is that once the battery gets drained the petrol engine takes over the controls charging the battery simultaneously, thus ensuring a hassle free drive. The fuel consumption of this third generation car is approximately 38 kilometers per liter and should make environmentalists happy. The battery can be charged under 1.5 hours and uses a power outlet of 100V. It takes only an hour with a power outlet of 200V. The car’s smaller version will also be light and more compact due to the smaller size of the battery assemblage. Suzuki will obtain the batteries from another Japanese electronics giant-Sanyo.
The present generation of swift plug in cars is currently undergoing rigorous testing and will be shipped to Suzuki’s global dealer network soon. Hence, the commercial launch is expected shortly. Honda, Ford and Volkswagen are all in the fray to introduce their cars with this technology soon.