SIM-LEI: Japan's Newest Electric Car Reaches 333km Driving Range, And It's Fast

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Friday, April 1st, 2011

In December last year, we reported that a spin-off startup at Keio University in Tokyo has teamed up with a total of 34 Japanese companies and municipalities to develop a new electric car. And now the startup, SIM Drive Corporation, has announced it has spent the last months on working on a new model that reaches a driving range of 333km.

Dubbed SIM-LEI (“Leading Efficiency In-Wheel motor”), the 4-seater just needs 4.8 seconds to go from 0km/h to 100km/h and has a top speed of 150km. Its maker says the 333km driving range were reached under “general urban traffic conditions in Japan” and with 24.5kWh battery capacity.

SIM-Drive plans to bring the SIM-LEI to market in 2013, probably in Japan first.

Via Akihabara News