Despite our recent report regarding the lacklustre global performance of electric vehicles in the month of May, the EV uprising continues apace with announcements from SEAT regarding their hybrid offering.
SEAT has revealed a new plug-in electric prototype based on the popular Seat Leon hatchback – the Seat Leon Verde. (For the non-linguists out there, “Verde” means “green” in Spanish – get it?)
However, the Spanish company claim to have no plans to launch the electric car as a production vehicle.
The SEAT Leon Verde was brought to life after a four-year research project, with assistance from a public-private fund partnership and a budget of 34 million euros.
The technical stuff
It’s powered by a 122 HP 1.4-litre TSI gasoline engine and a 75 kW electric motor, which in turn is powered by a 8.8 kWh battery. This gives the car a combined output of 170 HP, maximum. It can achieve a range of roughly 507 miles; 31 miles on electric power alone.
The car can achieve 176.6 MPG and has low CO2 emissions of 36 g/km, which of course means you wouldn’t have to pay road tax if you owned it. A “Driving Cycle Predictor”, a smart energy management system and a smartphone app (showing the car’s energy consumption and battery status) also feature in the prototype.
What’s in a name?
Sociedad Espagnola de Automoviles de Turismo - or SEAT for short - has followed a reasonably common naming convention, evoking the ‘green’ credentials of their electric car. Other manufacturers have named their hybrid or petrol-free vehicles in a similar way – the Nissan "LEAF" is presumably intended to conjure up images of countryside, forests and a generally clean environment.
However, the ‘green’ thing isn’t for everyone. Not claiming to know what truly goes through car makers’ heads when they come up with the names, it appears that electric car titles follow two themes, on top of the environmental one – futurism and fun. The Renault electric range, including the ZOE and the Twizy, doesn’t make me think of rolling hillsides or swathes of forest. Instead, we are quick to think of playfulness (dare I say, fairground rides?) and, as Renault intended, “a different way to approach the city.”
In fact, according to the RAC the name Twizy is a portmanteau of “two” (seats) and “easy” (urban driving solution.) Despite some legal issues around the use of a first name, the ‘ZOE’ - which comes from ‘Zero Emissions’ – has remained. To my mind, this combines the fun aspect (a girl’s name! How bizarre!) with the environmental stuff. Clever.
As an electric-only brand, Smart has found it easy to position itself name-wise. Smart – clever, conceptual, new and innovative. Once you get down to models, the fortwo could hardly be more descriptive (if somewhat lacking imagination.) How sensible.
Toyota have opted for the classy, old-school approach – Prius means ‘before’ in Latin, and has been used to signify that this car is, essentially, ahead of its time – it will be the ‘predecessor’ of car design. (Similary, the word "Auris" is Latin - but, instead of going green, they've, eh, gone gold.)
The ‘futuristic’ angle has also been taken by BMW and Peugeot, who are using “i” in front of their electric car names – possibly in homage to Apple products, seen to be at the cutting edge, or as a shorthand for innovation, invention or I-can’t-think-of-a-better-or-indeed-longer-name. (Or "insight", as per the Honda hybrid car?)
Time – and sales – will tell which approach works best. How long before someone launches “the Green”?