Did Japanese Car Makers Develop Electric Car in 1949 That Could Go 200km on Single Charge?
Japanese auto makers produced an electric car in 1949 that could travel 200km on a solitary cost.
Truth Check
Because at minimum 2013, a copypasta meme (this means a publish that is shared on social media by way of buyers copying and pasting a textual content verbatim) positing that the Japanese presciently built an electric auto in 1949 that could travel 200 kilometers (just above 124 miles) on a one charge has circulated greatly on the web.
Connected listed here is a single one particular example of the meme, posted to Twitter in October 2013:
Other social media posts bundled images of the vehicle:
The meme most likely attained renewed awareness in 2022 because gasoline price ranges surged, prompting acute curiosity among shoppers in paying for electric automobiles. These posts, and other folks like them, contained some factual info and some inaccurate information and facts. But the most important concept is correct — soon immediately after Earth War II, Japanese auto brands did acquire and market an electric powered car, very long right before contemporary versions turned well known in the 2010s.
The vehicle in the graphic higher than was developed by a Japanese company known as Tokyo Electro Auto Co., which would afterwards come to be Prince Motors, Ltd. Prince Motors would go on to merge with auto maker Nissan in 1966.
According to Nissan, the auto was rolled out in 1947 (not 1949), two decades right after Japan surrendered in Planet War II. For the duration of that time, for every Nissan’s web site, “Japan was suffering from an acute lack of oil, items and food when the supply of electrical power had a surplus considering that there were pretty much no property appliances or bulk buyers of electrical energy.”
The vehicle “achieved the driving range of 96km (just about 60 miles) [as opposed to 200km, as stated in the meme above] and the utmost speed of 35km/h (nearly 22 mph),” and produced a excellent taxi until finally 1951.
Because of the article-war oil shortage, Japanese start off-ups churned out electric powered automobiles. The car or truck in the picture earlier mentioned was dubbed TAMA and was restored to its authentic doing work ailment in 2010 when Nissan introduced its modern electric powered motor vehicle, LEAF. You can see the restored 1947 car in motion in a marketing video created by Nissan:
Resources:
“Forget the Leaf, the 1947 Tama Electric powered Motor vehicle Was Nissan’s 1st EV.” CarsGuide, https://www.carsguide.com.au/oversteer/forget about-the-leaf-the-1947-tama-electric powered-automobile-was-nissans-initial-ev-68563. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022.
Nissan | Heritage Selection | Tama Electric Motor vehicle. https://www.nissan-world wide.com/EN/HERITAGE/tama_electric.html. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022.