The R1e, which is based on the R1 mini-car currently available in Japan, was created using new manganese lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology that means the vehicle could recharge to 90 per cent of its capacity in just five minutes with the use of an exclusive charger.
This means that recharging the R1e could be done almost as fast as completely refueling a gasoline powered car, which typically takes about three minutes. It’s certainly a significant improvement over other electric vehicles, many of which can take eight hours to recharge.
The R1e is designed to go about 120 kilometres on a full charge. The new Li-ion batteries are also extremely small and lightweight – the R1e’s battery pack is about the size of a VCR – and designed to last for 10 years or 150,000 kilometres.