Electric vehicle breaks distance record

The electric vehicles version of Daihatsu Motor’s Mira compact car was developed by the Japan Electric Vehicle Club, a Tokyo based citizens’ group promoting the widespread use of electric cars.

Powered by 360 kilograms (8,320 cells) of Sanyo Electric Co.’s lithium ion batteries, the Mira EV, which departed Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district at 3 a.m. on Nov. 17, took two breaks on the way and crossed the finish line at Osaka’s Nipponbashi district at 4:26 p.m. the same day.

The achievement smashed the world record of 501 kilometers held by a U.S. firm, and it will be listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

"I am so excited to complete the whole distance," said driver Tateuchi Tadashi, an automotive critic and group representative.

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