(UPDATED: Video of World Record attempt added)
A Japanese team set a world record Friday for distance travelled by an electric vehicle on a single battery charge, running 1,300 km on a course in Akita Prefecture.
The four-driver team included Kenjiro Shinozuka, 64, who in 1997 became the first Japanese driver to win the Dakar Rally.
The team said it plans to file a request with Guinness World Records for recognition of the feat, which eclipsed the previous mark of 1,003.2 km.
The drivers used an EV converted Suzuki Every minivan, equipped with a 135 kWh lithium-ion battery, to lap the 25-km-long course.
The challenge to the record started on Wednesday at the Solar Sports Line, a dedicated 25-kilometer course in the village of Ogata in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Akita.
The four took turns at the wheel to drive the vehicle day and night at speeds of around 30 kph.
After passing the previous record shortly past 12:30 a.m. Friday (3:30 p.m. Thursday GMT), the vehicle ran out of power and stopped around 10:30 a.m., some 46 and a half hours after starting.
