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" NEW YORK \u2014 The Subaru R1e is just hitting the market in Japan, but PM has already tested one on the streets of New York City. It&amp;#039;s based on Subaru&amp;#039;s domestic microcar, which is already well-established in the Japanese microcar segment. The R1e simply replaces the gasoline engine with an electric traction motor and lithium-ion battery pack behind the seats. There are only two seats, because this really is just a microcar. There may be enough room behind the seats for a small suitcase and a ham sandwich or two. The seating is adequate for two adults\u2014but nobody is really going to be driving one of these things across the country, be it gas or electric.   When accelerating through a traffic light, the R1e can be outdragged by a determined taxicab, but there is enough thrust to merge with traffic smoothly. The battery pack will propel it to a top speed of 60 mph (or so Subaru says), but the half-hour we spent was in the R1e&amp;#039;s native element\u2014inner-city traffic. It&amp;#039;s diminutive size makes it easy to slip into and out of tight spaces. Range is claimed to be around 50 miles. And that&amp;#039;s refreshingly honest, because I&amp;#039;ve never driven any electric car that could remotely live up to the mileage promises made by the marketing guys. One benefit of full electric power: There are no emissions whatsoever from this vehicle, something that seems more important when Lincoln Tunnel traffic stacks up, and leaves you breathing bus exhaust for a half-hour or so.   Recharging the onboard battery takes about 8 hours for a full charge. An ordinary 115-volt outlet is all you need. But for those in a hurry, there&amp;#039;s a stationary charger that can cram an 80 percent charge into the battery pack within 15 minutes. Too big to be installed in the car, the fast charger will be useful for fleet vehicles that have predetermined routes and short ranges. This fast-charging rate is made possible by the performance of the lithium-ion batteries, which can accept the charge that rapidly. A second advantage is the lack of memory, which allows the battery to be repeatedly partially discharged and fully charged without losing part of their capacity, like NiCd batteries do. Also, lithium-ion batteries can be deep-discharged repeatedly without damage, unlike lead-acid, NiCd or NiMH batteries.   Subaru is loaning two R1es to the New York Power Authority, the agency that manages the power consumption of city departments. So we might see these two cars buzzing around the city in Housing Authority or even NYPD livery. Why only loaned out? The R1 chassis, regardless of the powerplant, is manufactured to Japanese safety standards and isn&amp;#039;t legal to import into the U.S. Yet. \u2014Mike Allen   RELATED STORIES \u2022 TEST DRIVE: Could Mitsubishi&amp;#039;s iMiev EV Make It Stateside This Decade?     "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a2718/4255284/>