Mitsubishi Motors claims world record for running electric car

By Associated Press
Sunday, December 20, 1998

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said today its drivers ran an electric car more than 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) in a day's span, setting a record cruising range for a given time.

Four drivers of the FTO-EV prototype covered a total of 2,142.3 kilometers (1,328.2 miles) in a 24-hour period at a test course in Okazaki, central Japan, Mitsubishi Motors said in a release.

The previous 24-hour record for an electric vehicle was 1,700 kilometers (1,054 miles) unofficially set by Saturn Corporation of the United States in 1996, Mitsubishi said.

''This is a major step toward commercialization of non-polluting electric cars,'' said Mitsubishi spokeswoman Yuriko Otani.

Otani said Mitsubishi Motors plans to sell electric cars in 2003, timed for when California will implement its stringent air quality rules, including a requirement that 4 percent of all new vehicles produce zero-emissions.

Only electric cars, which emit no smoke at all, would satisfy that requirement.

To date, demand for electric cars has remained weak in large part because they have a limited range before their batteries need recharging at special electricity stations.

Mitsubishi's run was attained with a newly developed manganese lithium-ion battery, which features much faster charging and a 10-percent increase in cruising range over conventional nickel-hydrogen batteries, Otani said.

Cruising the FTO-EV prototype around the 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) course, each driver took the wheel alternately for six hours. It ran at a speed of 130 kilometers per hour (80.6 mph).

The course is in Okazaki, 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Tokyo. (km)

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