Japanese EV boasts retro-tech to match its looks

The cost of this vintage-look EV's exclusivity isn't just in the price - it's also in the battery, the performance and the range

If a product's integrity is to be gauged by its looks, Japanese company Takayanagi's "new" Miluira EV is a product of great integrity indeed.

The single seat baby, styled in the manner of something from the Gatsby era, is as old-tech as it looks. Yes, it's all electric, which on the surface of things makes it thoroughly 21st century. But don't be fooled -- under that miniature vintage exterior beats a heart more yester-tech than granddaddy's fob watch. More antiquated, even, than it even needs to be.

Despite the immensity of effort going into the development of lighter, faster-charging, more durable, longer range batteries using lithium-ion and lithium-polymer formulae, Takayanagi has chosen to go with a power pack comprising four lead-acid batteries. Yes, lead-acid -- they're the ones you've been huffing and puffing and sweating to get in and out of your engine bay for the last century or more.

The car's not big, at just 2180mm long and just 1280mm wide, and weighing just 350kg. Its 72 volt battery pack, mounted under a seat resembling a one-bum chesterfield, drives a pair of electric motors, each delivering of a maximum 1.75kW. That's good for a range of up to 35km at speeds of up to 60km/h before needing a recharge (bear in mind manufacturer supplied range figures are inevitably rather optimistic).

Recharging, incidentally, takes about 12 hours on a standard Japanese domestic power point.

What the Miluira does have going for it is that it's a pretty little thing. And so it ought to be with a list price of 6.3 million yen AUS$75,787). That's two Nissan LEAFs or Mitsubishi i-MiEVs, with change. Or about eight Tata Indica Vistas, just released by the Indian outfit in the US and Europe.

If this sounds ridiculous, bear in mind that most of the world's most expensive wristwatches use traditional mechanical movements less accurate than a $10 quartzer from Bangkok markets. And Bristol, maker of some of the world's most pointlessly exclusive and costly cars, lives on using Chrysler engines designed by Leonardo da Vinci's brother Tony.

And if all that doesn't sound exclusive enough, you can tell your friends there's a waiting list for the Miluira. It ships in March 2011.

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at the carsales mobile site