Report: New "smart hybrid" coming to Taiwan in 2013

A new "smart hybrid" car called the i-EV from the Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC) of Taiwan will be produced starting in 2013, according to eTaiwan News. The article is sparse and the English is a little unusual, but we think the vehicle under discussion is an all-electric car (the article talks about "no noise and pollution" and a "85 kilometers extension if recharged") that will be made with made completely from materials from Taiwanese auto parts makers. It could also be an actual hybrid. The ARTC and others have been working on the car for eight months. Right now, the car has a proposed top speed of 81 miles per hour and can go from 0-37 mph in a rocking 6.9 seconds. Unsurprisingly, the "hybrid smart car," as it's also referred to, faces the dual problems of "high price and limited battery duration," according to a professor of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. No image of the car was released.

The vehicle pictured above is the electric version of the Panda from Yulon Motor Co., which is supposed to go on sale in Taiwan in 2011. Another Taiwanese electric vehicle, a three-wheeled light-electric-vehicle from the Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium (TARC) is undergoing tests.

[Source: eTaiwan News]

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