After decades of electric cars being avoided by manufacturers, it seems that recently electric cars are really starting to go somewhere (pardon the awful pun). A combination of improving electric batteries and increasing gas prices have likely lead to this change. Competition is fierce in the automotive industry, Nissan and Ford are both offering vehicles that use electric batteries. And now Honda looks to be joining the electric party with its 2013 Honda Fit EV. The all electric Honda hatchback runs on a 20-kilowatt-hour li-ion battery and high-density 92-kilowatt coaxial electric motor. The coaxial electric motor is actually derived from the motor in the Honda FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle. Onboard a 6.6-kilowatt 32-amp charger allows for convenient recharging. When paired with a 240-volt charging port, the Fit EV can fully recharge in as little as three hours. A full charge can travel about 123 miles, which is higher than both the Nissan Leaf and Ford’s all-electric Focus.

The Fit EV will start rolling out in the summer of 2012 to a limited market in California and Oregon, and will spread out to at least six undisclosed East Coast markets in early 2013. The lease payment will target $399 a month for three years and is based on a $36,625 price point.

The downside to the Honda of course is that they are only targeting 1,100 units over the first three years of production. Also keep in mind that with the Honda Clarity only 50 cars have actually made their way into the hands of leasees even though there was an initial queue of over 80,000 interested customers.

Vehicles aren’t the gas-guzzling machines they used to be as hybrid and even all-electric methods are becoming more commonplace than ever before.

Overall, the Fit looks like another interesting electric option. Is the electric car the wave of the future or just a temporary trend that will be replaced by another emerging technology? Only time will tell for sure.

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Honda announced that vehicle charging stations will be part of a Japanese trail to further Honda’s goal of reducing CO₂ emissions through their products.

The trail will include Honda’s electric vehicles (EVs) including the Fit and Accord, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, (PHEVs), the new EV-neo electric scooter and the Monpal ML200 4-wheel electric scooter.

A current drawback of EVs and PHEVs includes the lengthy charging times.  Honda’s Fit EV Concept can be driven for 160 km before it needs to be recharged. According to Honda, it takes less than six hours to charge using a 200-volt power source.

Honda’s PHEV model combines an electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery and an internal combustion engine. It can run as a fully-electric vehicle, a gas-electric hybrid, or as a gas-powered vehicle. In the all-electric mode, the vehicle can be driven 15 to 25 km before needing to recharge. Fully recharging the battery would take about 1.5 hours using a 200-volt outlet.

While it may be simple to charge an EV overnight in the garage, not everyone has a garage or access to an easily-accessible power source. Not to mention that it would be difficult to refuel in the middle of a trip. With stations that offer faster charging at higher voltages, it could allow drivers to gain full advantage of their EVs and PHEVs. Customers would be able to drive their cars for longer periods of time and go greater distances, and reduce their PHEV’s gasoline usage.

Honda will also test a communications system that allows drivers to search for the charging stations. The system will allow drivers to view how much charge the EV has left, and show a map that drivers can follow to the nearest charging station using either a smartphone or the built-in car navigation program.

[Honda]

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It looks like Honda is really starting to take this whole electric car thing a little more seriously. Going beyond the hybrid game of the Insight and CR-Z, we find a full electric vehicle on display at the LA Auto Show.

If you’re thinking that its outward appearance looks familiar, you’d be right. It’s the tried and true Honda Fit, which happens to use the exact same platform as the aforementioned Insight and CR-Z. The key difference, of course, is that this is a true EV. Honda is promising that an EV of some kind will be delivered within two years.

The tech is being borrowed from the CR-Z, as well as that FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle that we’ve been seeing for several years now. When plugged into a 240V socket, the Fit EV can fully recharge in six hours and go for about 100 miles at a time. Its max speed is limited to 90mph to help extend range and it has the same three drive modes as the Honda CR-Z sports hybrid.

I’ve said before that electric cars are not the future and even though I’ve taking some flack for saying it, I still believe the statement holds true. Honda thinks so too, banking on hydrogen as the future, but it also recognizes that Fit EV definitely has its place among the product portfolio too.

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