Well I'll be a blue-eyed turtle named Samuel. It seems a company has jumped the gun with a big release, rather than delaying as most commonly seen. The first R1e electric Subaru will be sold in Japan by parent company Fuji Heavy Industries in 2009, one year earlier than expected.
This is the same electric car that is touting that fancy battery capable of 150,000 miles or 15 year lifespan. These same batteries will reportedly be able to charge up to 80-percent capacity in a mere 15 minutes via an AC200V outlet.
FHI has been trial-running the R1e hybrid for the past year, but now it is looking to sell 100 units in 2009. There is no official word on pricing, but FHI was quoted saying it's looking to get the price down to $17,500 by 2013 on the ability to mass-produce the batteries. [Green Car Congress]