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TESTING The 2013 Honda Fit EV will be available for lease this summer in parts of California and Oregon.
By TORI TELLEM
Published: January 27, 2012
LOS ANGELES
HONDA has begun handing over the keys to its all-electric Fit EV. The first of the 2013-model cars have been delivered to Google, Stanford University and the city of Torrance, Calif., in advance of the public introduction this summer.
The three first cars will be part of a demonstration program to provide advanced research and driving feedback that Honda can use in the development of futureelectric cars and powertrains.
The initial recipients have particular reasons for wanting to take the wheel. For Torrance, where Honda’s American operations are based, the Fit EV will be passed around to various departments like management and parks and recreation. The goal is to learn whether an all-electric city fleet would be feasible.
“They’re also looking at this as an opportunity for how Torrance can become a city of the future,” said a Honda spokeswoman, Jessica Fini. That process will include increasing public awareness about electric vehicles and evaluating a charging infrastructure for the city.
At Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., the Fit EV will become part of what is called the G-fleet — alternative-power vehicles in the company’s car-sharing program — and will give Honda feedback on what multiple drivers like and don’t like about the car.
Perhaps the most intriguing research will be done by the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford. It took possession of the Fit EV as part of a research project involving behavioral aspects associated with the adoption of new technology. Drivers will be outfitted with electrodes, enabling researchers to measure human reactions to the car’s noises and alerts — when the car runs low on power, for example. Gasoline and electric Fits will make up the Stanford fleet.
Civilians interested in a Fit EV — without the electrodes — will have the opportunity first in certain areas of California and Oregon. Ms. Fini said those states were selected “because they’re mainly ground zero for electric vehicles, having the highest number of early adopters and charging infrastructures, so we felt they were the best markets to start.”
Availability will expand to some East Coast markets in spring 2013. The car is offered with only a three-year lease at a cost estimated at $399 a month.
Prospective customers can learn more about the Fit EV and fill out an application atfitev.honda.com. Honda says the site will expand in the spring with more information about the car.
Ms. Fini said the vetting process for potential lessees would include whether the applicant’s life style was conducive to having an electric vehicle, looking at factors like the length of the daily commute and whether a charger could be installed at home.
This is Honda’s second plunge into the world of battery-electric vehicles; it offered the Honda EV Plus for several years starting in 1997.
The Fit EV, based on the gasoline-powered Fit hatchback, made its debut at the Los Angeles auto show in November. It is powered by a 92-kilowatt electric motor and a 20-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. The driving range is estimated at 76 miles on a charge in combined city and highway driving.
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