Japanese electric car 'goes 300km' on single charge
!["SIM-LEI" Japanese electric car 'goes 300km' on single charge](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2011/japaneseelec.jpg)
Japanese developers have unveiled an electric car they said Wednesday can travel more than 300 kilometres before its battery runs flat.
Electric vehicle specialist SIM-Drive, which hopes to take the car to market by 2013 but gave no projected cost, said its four-seater "SIM-LEI" had motors inside each wheel and a super-light frame, allowing for 333 kilometres (207 miles) of motoring on one charge in a test.
Its designers say they hope the prototype, a joint project among 34 organisations including Mitsubishi Motors and engineering firm IHI, will be sold to car manufacturers for mass production.
![Japan's auto venture SIM-DRIVE's prototype model of the electric vehicle SIM-LEI, which is expecting to go on sale in 2013, is unveiled in Tokyo. Japan's auto venture SIM-DRIVE's prototype model of the electric vehicle SIM-LEI is unveiled](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2011/japansautove.jpg)
Automakers such as Nissan, which launched its all-electric Leaf last year with a 160-kilometre range, are gambling that electric cars with zero tailpipe emissions will catch on and, some time in the future, start to drive traditional petrol-guzzlers off the road.
Electric cars still face key hurdles such as costly batteries and the lack of conveniently-located recharging points, which limits their operating radius.
(c) 2011 AFP