Japan's maverick PM praises reformist car
Date: 14-Dec-01
Country: JAPAN
Koizumi, who has been battling to carry out reforms seen as essential to boosting the nation's ailing economy, was taken for a ride in one of several fuel-cell cars on hand from four of Japan's top automakers - Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda.
Fuel cells work by combining hydrogen and oxygen via a catalyst that converts chemical energy into electrical power to feed an electric motor. Heat and water are the only byproducts.
After a brief spin around the drive in front of Japan's parliament building, a beaming Koizumi pronounced the car "the ultimate" and said he would do all he could to promote the use of fuel-cell vehicles.
"The ride is great, it's much quieter than the cars used now and very comfortable," he said.
Koizumi, who came to power in April, singled out the environment as a key policy area and has urged government officials to switch to cars friendly to the environment.
The trade ministry is scheduled to replace some 40 percent of its cars with low-emission models by the end of the current business year in March.
Japanese automakers are spending billions of yen on the theory that fuel cells will eventually replace polluting internal combustion engines as power sources in cars and trucks.