KAWASAKI--A 72-year-old former rally car driver here hopes his environmentally friendly electric rickshaws take off in India, a nation desperate for ways to cut notoriously high levels of air pollution. 

Noboru Matsunami, now chairman of Electrike Japan Co., is a long-time fan of India's ubiquitous three-wheeled tuk-tuks, and has been buzzing around on them since his high school days. 

His new battery-powered Electrike tuk-tuk, which he modeled after an imported India-made, gas-powered rickshaw, fixes a safety flaw in the originals that caused them to tip over in turns.

When Matsunami debuted the Electrike in 2015, it reminded many in the older generation of the much-loved Midget tuk-tuk.

Matsunami was aware when he designed the Electrike that the tendency of failing to turn at high speed in the Midget and similar models was partly to blame for them being replaced by their four-wheel counterparts.

From driving Midgets, he knew they tended to tip in turns because their back wheels were rising off the road.

To stop that from occurring, Matsunami came up with a unique "twin motor" mechanism to drive the rear wheels on both sides separately that controls the number of times they rotate.

The Electrike also emits no exhaust fumes and at 1.3 meters wide is smaller than a minivehicle, enabling it to freely operate on narrow streets between buildings in residential areas. 

With a recharge time of five hours using a 200-volt power source, the Electrike can travel up to 60 kilometers and was approved by the Japanese transport ministry in 2015.

Though Matsunami sees the vehicle, which can haul goods weighing up to 150 kilograms, as being "eco-friendly and flexible" and a natural fit for delivery service providers and other businesses, Electrikes haven't yet seen the sales bump he was expecting. To date, he has sold only 30.

But Matsunami has reason to be optimistic that will soon change. An Indian automaker that has just started large-scale production of three-wheel electric vehicles for use as taxis and for other purposes has shown interest in Electrike's core technology. 

The Indian government has also been strengthening its subsidy program that promotes the use of electric cars to combat air pollution.

Matsunami expects he can develop a new model that would gain wide acceptance in India that would sell for "far cheaper than 1 million yen ($9,200)." The key is if he can manufacture its body in India and equip it with a Japan-made Electrike motor.

Matsunami had intended to visit India in late February to promote his invention but the trip was scrapped after the novel coronavirus pandemic hit.

Though Matsunami was disappointed to miss out on the long-awaited business opportunity, he's too busy to spend time brooding over it.

"I am worried about the effects of the coronavirus, but I have a mountain of things to do to refine the vehicle, such as introducing a battery to nearly double its driving range, so it will prove popular in the market," he said.

Matsunami entered the business of making tuk-tuks in 2008 at the age of 60.  Electrike Japan Co., the company he founded, started marketing its first electric tuk-tuk in 2015.

After he ended his career as a rally driver, Matsunami spent 10 years toiling to revive his father's gas leak detector firm and another 12 striving to make a company he started in Nakahara Ward here selling rear monitors for trucks profitable.

For Matsunami, automobiles aren't merely a means of earning money but also his passion, he said, and he credited his interest in them with helping him get through difficult times.

His business making rear monitors for vehicles has paid off enough now that it can support his work developing three-wheeled electric vehicles, Matsunami said.

"Really, I just do it just because I love cars," Matsunami said. "People are surprised, but for me, all important things in personal connections and businesses have come from working on cars."

Recalling the tough years he spent rebuilding and nurturing other businesses, Matsunami said he is eager to start working "even harder" to get Electrike the attention he feels it deserves after the pandemic ends.