Tokyo--Tajima Motor has started selling its electric sports car for one.
The company, run by Japanese race-car driver Nobuhiro Tajima, started selling its one-seater EV Mini Sport for around $23,000 (2 million yen) earlier this month and exhibited it at the first EV & HEV Drive System Technology Expo last week in Tokyo.
The design of the car is based in part on Tajima's experience in motor sports. It deliberately copies the look of a formula car. Particular attention was paid to reducing weight and air resistance.
It is categorized as a motorized bicycle in Japan and has a motor output of 0.59 kilowatts. The weight of the EV was reduced to about 300kg by combining a steel tube space frame and a resin-bathtub-like body. Consumers can chose either lead acid batteries or lithium ion batteries. It is not built to go the distance, however: the car can only travel about 90 kilometers on one charge from the lithium ion batteries.
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