Thanks to a Leaf FB group I'm on, I was reminded of this car: The History Of Tama, The Nissan Leaf Ancestor - HybridCars.com. I'd seen the video there awhile ago. One has to LOL when you get to this part: It's amazing how things have changed. I guess slowing down in the above car wouldn't really help w/increasing range. Don't have the pedal to the floor? That excess electricity ends up being converted into waste heat.
cwerdna, many thanks for this bit of EV history. As far as simplicity goes, there would appear to be a closer connection between the Tama and the current THINK City than with the Leaf.
You're welcome! For those who haven't already, IMHO, it's much better to watch the video than to read the transcript, as the guy does a show and tell. I only watched the video awhile ago and only stumbled across the transcript last night.
BTW, the restored Tama EV does run. Video at Video: 1947 Tama electric car tackles Nissan's test track. (No, it doesn't go very fast.) The beginning of the 1st video at Japanese Leaf owners praise EV's low cost of ownership, want more range shows it running too. Side note: In that 1st video of the 2nd link, at ~2 minute mark, Leaf's Chief Vehicle Engineer Kadota-san is shown speaking. He came to to the Bay Area in late 2011 for a Leaf meeting. I was there. A few pics at My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - The “range–extended” EV (BEVx) considered. Ingineer (in purple) over there is pEEf over here. He was standing near Kadota-san w/his turbine engine tow generator for his Leaf.
