Elecar Electric Car from the Teikoku Electric Mfg Co (Imperial Electric Co)
The company was established in 1939 and launched production of electric vehicles in 1947.
"The company's EV production came to its peak in around 1947-48. Production volume rose to about 30 units per month. The distance that can run with one charge is about 50 kilometers... The reason for having domestic companies head toward EV development is the lack of gasoline that continues from the wartime. Charcoal cars were used in the private sector, but there was a problem such that there was no horsepower, it took time to start the engine. For that reason, EV development was encouraged, and the company's development, which was a railway traffic signal maker, came in.
Turning point is 1949, right after we prepared for an increase in production. The importation of crude oil was lifted by the Allied Forces General Headquarters (GHQ), and the operation of refineries on the Pacific coast was permitted. The mainstream shifted to gasoline-powered cars that outperformed the performance, and so the factory was flooded with inventory.
In order to avoid bankruptcy, the executives struggled with cash flow and cut employees again. We launched a taxi business to utilize inventory and established sales offices in various parts of Western Harima. Finally in 1952, we scrapped all the inventory, we also let go of taxi driving rights".
This was translated from Japanese with help of Google Translate.
