Electric vehicles talk of the town at Tokyo motor show

Electric vehicles dominated the Tokyo motor show this week, as Asia's leading car manufacturers looked to the new technology to reignite the flagging industry.

Nissan – which recently debuted its first mainstream electric car in the form of the Leaf – was first off the blocks, unveiling its first all-electric light commercial vehicle at the show. The company said it would aim to take the all-electric version of its NV200 to market by 2012.

Toyota also announced it is planning to sell an electric car in the US by 2012 and said it remained on track to unveil a plug-in version of its best-selling Prius model later this year.

Meanwhile, Honda chief executive Takanobu Ito said the firm would consider launching electric cars in the United States, Europe and Japan, where previously it had focused its strategy on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Similarly, Mitsubishi president Osamu Masuko said the company was preparing a series of global launches for its i-MiEV electric car following its successful launch in Japan earlier this year. "We are hoping to build electric vehicles into a global core model, as well as possibly developing new business models around an electric-vehicle future," he told Reuters.

However, Toyota's executive vice president Takeshi Uchiyamada said he thought that the electric vehicle market would require further government subsidies if it is to make it into the mainstream. "I do not think a rapid diffusion of electric vehicles will happen," he told the Wall Street Journal, adding that fuel cell cars with a greater range may appeal more until the prices of electric vehicles come down.

Despite the introduction of a scrappage scheme, Japan's car market is continuing to suffer, with analysts Intelligence Automotive Asia predicting industry-wide vehicle production in Japan is likely to fall 29 per cent to 8.2 million units in 2009, the lowest level since 1976. A series of tax breaks on hybrids and other low-carbon vehicles mean that the sector has fared less badly, prompting increased interest in green cars from manufacturers.

In related news, the US Society of Automotive Engineers plans to vote on a standard for equipment to charge plug-in hybrid and all-electric cars known as J1772 this week.

Different companies are developing different charging speeds for different types of battery, so it could take several votes to hammer out a common standard. However, experts are adamant that the development of a standardised approach to recharging will help cut costs for the nascent industry and accelerate the rollout of electric vehicles.