(英会話リスニングスクリプト)
A Japanese university professor has recently
written a new page in the history of the automobile by showing
that an electric car can perform just as well as a gasoline-powered
car.
Masaharu Fujinaka, a professor of electronic
engineering at Tokyo Denki University, drove an electric
car from Tokyo to Shiga Prefecture without having to recharge
the battery.
The distance of 460 km without stopping
is a record for an electric car.
An electric car is usually able to cover
about 200 km before it is recharged.
Fujinaka's team remodeled a conventional
gasoline-powered vehicle using Japanese-made components.
Instead of a lead battery a new nickel-hydrogen
battery was used.
This is lighter and has a larger electric
capacity than a lead battery.
A solar-powered auxiliary battery was also
installed in the car.
The solar cells were mounted on the car's
roof and hood.
Mr. Fujinaka praised the efficiency of the
new battery which enabled the performance of the electric
car to be favourably compared with that of a gasoline car.
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