Suzuki Swift Plug-in Electric Hybrid Gets OK from Japanese Government

In brief: Suzuki Motor Corp, who has thus far been quiet in the electrification revolution, announced a concept Swift Plug-in Hybrid in 2009 and has now received approval from the Japanese government to undergo road testing with the car.

Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: Swift Plug-in Hybrid
Manufacturer: Suzuki Motor Co

The word

The Swift Plug-in Hybrid is a series hybrid (range-extended electric) compact passenger car using a tiny 0.66L gasoline engine as a generator for the electric powertrain.

The car is propelled by a 55kW 180Nm AC motor and a 2.66kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Starting from a full charge, fuel consumption is 37.6km/L (88.4mpg US) on the Japanese JC08 cycle.

Suzuki will be shipping dealer models of the Swift PHEV to dealers in Japan this fall for proving tests.

And so ...

Very interesting car with the potential to be very low cost, even compared to the Nissan LEAF.

Photo credits: Suzuki