Fuji Heavy Indistries has said it will release a plug-in electric version of its Subaru Stella minicar in July, but initially its sale will be limited.
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The plug-in Stella may at some point in the future be released to the general public, but initially its availability will be limited to companies and government agencies. Fuji Heavy plans to assemble about 170 of the cars in fiscal 2009 and around 200 in fiscal 2010.
The automaker has not yet decided on the price but plans to both sell and lease the vehicles.
The plug-in Stella can travel roughly 80km (50 miles) on a full charge and can be recharged in five to eight hours via a regular power socket. Using a special rapid charger, the car can be juiced enough to travel around 50km in just five minutes, Fuji said.
The Stella minicar in Japan was introduced in 2006 and is aimed mainly at female buyers, especially young mothers and housewives.
