Photo/Illutration The Tama electric car was mass-produced shortly after the end of World War II. (Provided by Nissan Motor Co.)

Tama, a car model produced at a factory in western Tokyo, was at the forefront of Japan’s electric vehicle (EV) market decades before the term “global warming” was even coined.

Marked by its light beige body and round headlamps, the two-door, four-seat Tama was released in 1947, when electric cars were aggressively developed and pitched in Japan.

This lesser-known history of the Japanese EV industry is being highlighted at a special display within the library of Polytechnic University in Tokyo’s Kodaira.

Tama was created by Tokyo Electro Automobile Co., which originated from Tachikawa Aircraft and was later merged into what is now Nissan Motor Co.

The model was named Tama after the location of the factory.

A government performance test showed Tama could run a maximum of 96 kilometers on one battery charge at speeds up to 35 kph.

Given the excellent results, Tama production was ramped up to supply taxis primarily to urban areas on a broad scale.

Some records indicate Tama and other EVs accounted for at least 3 percent of all automobiles in Japan in 1949.

According to Sadayuki Murakoshi, 64, a librarian at Polytechnic University, and Nissan documents, the oil shortage facing Japan back then led to the fairly high EV ratio.

As the government tightly controlled resources after World War II, many dams nationwide were used to generate an abundant amount of electricity through hydropower plants.

The government thus pushed the development of EVs, leading to the emergence of multiple manufacturers, including Tokyo Electro Automobile.

But the electric automobiles never took off in Japan.

After the Korean War broke out in 1950, Tokyo secured a stable supply of oil, and its dependence on electricity was reduced.

Furthermore, prices soared for lead used in EV batteries.

Although they epitomized the crystallization of exceptional technologies, Tama and other Japanese-made electric cars gradually faded away.

HISTORICAL EXHIBITION

Polytechnic University, which nurtures instructors who provide vocational training in the manufacturing industry, has kept automobile-relevant documents from the early postwar period.

The latest exhibit was organized to pass down technologies and highlight local history.

The special display is themed on “the development of Japan’s electric cars that started with Tama in the 1940s,” showing not only documents but also panels that retrace Tama’s history.

“Technologies could be obliterated by the raging waves in politics and economics, no matter how outstanding they are,” Murakoshi said. “I expect this opportunity will motivate visitors to deliberate on other energy sources as well as electricity, too.”

The exhibit is open from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. daily through Sept. 15. The library closes on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. Admission is free.

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