Subaru Plug-in Stella

Overall rating: 2.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.5/5.0 (makes a vice of practicality)
Safety: 2.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 2.5/5.0
X-factor: 2.5/5.0

Subaru introduced its electric version of the Stella kei-car to journalists by way of a chauffeur drive from the company's retail outlet in Melbourne's Docklands precinct to a nearby kart track. According to the importer, the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DoTARS) -- the government section that handles vehicle design rule compliance -- had insisted that the vehicle not be driven on public roads, unless in the hands of a suitably qualified member of staff.

For the purposes of ferrying the Plug-in Stella to the private property where it could be driven by journalists, the member of staff was a trained engineer. It's like a return to the days of a bloke walking in front of a car bearing a red flag.

That British statute ended in 1905, but in 2009 a fit bloke riding hard on a pushbike and carrying a red flag could just about stay ahead of the electric Stella. With just a 40kW electric motor powering the car, it's not going to blow the doors off a typical petrol-engined car. In fact, the Stella will just barely reach a 100km/h top speed and the electric motor is hitting 6000rpm at that point. There's only one forward gear to take the drive from the front-mounted motor to the front wheels.

The Stella EV is an example of what the future holds -- but only after a fashion. You see, the Stella, for all the technology it introduces and the cultural tsunami it bodes, is somewhat primitive. The problem lies in the need for Subaru to preview electric power and the batteries to go with that in a light and compact package to optimise range from the batteries. As a consequence, they were left with the Stella to play the part of donor car for the demonstration of the technology -- and the Stella is not refined and it's not a vision of the future.

It is, in fact, a typical Japanese urban runabout with mediocre dynamics and packaging that's not altogether appropriate away from the Ginza.

As a car, the Stella's a bit of an understeerer and we imagine it would have quite a high centre of gravity. For potential export markets the Stella could do with a re-tune of the suspension and steering.

Packaging is like that of a Honda Jazz/City, but writ small -- there's plenty of room in the back, but space is slightly compromised in the front. The seats provide zero support, which is okay, since there's also zero cornering ability from the car.

For an electric vehicle, the Stella was a tad noisy, the motor being a bit whiney on the overrun and the tyres rumbling away on bitumen.

The Plug-in Stella uses a smart-key system, with a switch where the ignition lock would normally be located on the steering column. As with a conventional ignition lock barrel, it turns through lock, accessory and on positions and there's a spring-loaded 'start' position that initialises the car's drivetrain, provided the driver is depressing the brake pedal.

In the instrument binnacle, the left gauge shows the range remaining in kilometres and the right gauge is like a tacho, but registers power developed. As with a tacho or a speedometer, the power gauge is calibrated well beyond the car's capabilities, indicating a ceiling of 50kW -- and as mentioned already, the motor is limited to 40kW.

Most of the time, the driver won't see the needle get much beyond the half-way mark.

Subaru claims an 80km range between recharges, but that's based on driving without the heating or aircon in operation. The company didn't tell us how fast the HVAC system would chew up power.

Subaru had arranged the brief drive of the Stella just days ahead of its debut at the Melbourne International Motor Show and the car was in what might be called a 'pre-production' form. Presumably it's here to be tested as well as to give the Australian public a look at the car.

The Plug-in Stella provides the choice of light or heavy regeneration to suit driver preferences. Subaru's Takashi Suzuki mentions the MINI-e as an example of a vehicle that relies on much heavier regeneration during braking.

According to Suzuki, Subaru's Manager of Corporate Planning and Electric Vehicle Business Promotion Office, the Plug-in Stella can provide drivers with the choice of heavy ('L' mode from the drive selector) or lighter regeneration ('D' mode from the drive selector).

One of the media contingent suggested that the 'L' mode braking might pose problems for the Stella's ADR compliance if deceleration is too fast and not accompanied by brake-light operation. In the view of this writer, however, the Stella's rate of deceleration, even in 'L' mode, was no faster than for a conventional internal-combustion car with a manual transmission.

Whether this does pose a problem in the commercialisation of Subaru's EV technology for the Australian market -- assuming that happens -- will be very much in the lap of DoTARS. So far, based on Subaru's experience with the government department in respect of the experimental Stella, that track record is not good.

The two regenerative braking modes only vary the amount of battery recharging, there's no faster throttle response or acceleration by leaving the selector in 'L'. All in all, it's hard to see why you'd ever drive it in 'D', because despite the lack of responsive 'throttle', it doesn't appear to use less power than 'L' and other than the braking, it isn't any smoother, especially.

In 'L', you get more regeneration -- and therefore, more range -- for no less straightline performance than in 'D'.

Suzuki-san informed us that open-road cruising in the Plug-in Stella would perhaps result in a range no better than 100km. Typically, urban driving offers more opportunities for regenerative braking, so the range on the open road is not that much better in the way that it would be for an internal-combustion car.

In all then, the Stella is what it is: a conventional internal combustion car that has been converted to run on electric power. Sadly, it might be argued that Subaru could have started with a more competent basis for even this early attempt at demonstrating a commercially realised electric vehicle.

If there's one aspect of the Stella that is bound to excite the driving public, it's nothing to do with the car itself. It's actually the rapid-charge infrastructure being developed by Tokyo Electric Power Company (see our earlier report here).

The Stella in isolation is a car that's a technology showcase, not an automotive design showcase. And that's why we're looking forward with interest to Mitsubishi's i-local MiEV trial and comparing how that stacks up against the Stella.