Kiwis could be able to affordably convert their petrol-powered cars to electric vehicles, says a Japanese executive who is pushing his company’s electric vehicle prototype technology in New Zealand.
Soichiro Fukutake is the director of Japanese-based Sim Drive, a developer of electric car prototypes.
The company is promoting its protoypes worldwide, saying electric vehicles must be brought into widespread use to help the environment.
The technology is not expected to enter mass production for another two years.
Fukutake is speaking about the company’s vision at the Icehouse Ideas conference in Auckland today.
There are two ways the technology could be implemented: where the motor is located in the wheels and the battery in the trunk or under the car seats; and secondly where the motor is placed in the wheels and the battery in a frame under the floor.
Fukutake, who emigrated to New Zealand in 2009, has asked the Government to provide incentives to New Zealanders wanting to convert their cars to electric technology.
“It’s too expensive for many consumers to buy new electric vehicles so why not convert them?” he said.
Given New Zealand lacks an automobile manufacturing industry, Fukutake believed it would be better to train New Zealand mechanics on how to convert cars with an internal combustion engine to electric powered cars using Sim Drive technology.
He estimated a basic conversion would cost about NZ$6,000, plus leasing costs for the battery. Fukutake said a significant uptake of conversions would reduce New Zealand’s reliance on imported petrol, boost employment and benefit the environment.
The company had also developed new electric steel car prototypes, with an average battery life of 330km.
Of all the countries in the world, China was most interested in the technology, said Fukutake, and a Chinese Government department had undertaken to manufacture electric vehicles using the Sim Drive technology.
The technology was developed with the backing of 34 companies, who contributed NZ$30,000 each to the project, said Fukutake.
Critics’ concerns over the proposed technology include greater weight in the tyres, safety if a wheel breaks and water damage to motors, but Sim Drive believed those issues were resolvable.
