Today, AkihabaraNews attended the 3rd International Smart Grid Expo at Tokyo Big Site. It was certainly exciting to see so many companies from around the world attending the event. Of course we saw solar panels and every kind of high-tech gadget to manage anything from a small array to an entire large-scale power grid. The show had a strong B2B focus and we found it quite difficult to find any consumer related products. But what we could not resist noticing were some of the sponsors of cool technologies.

It was here that we found “Monster” Tajima and his super-powerful EV race car specifically designed for the Pikes Peak race in Colorado. Nobuhiro Tajima is the world record holder of the Pikes Peak international hill climb which he originally broke in 2011 in his 910HP twin Turbo Monster Sport SX4 Pikes Peak Special. Today Tajima himself, TAJIMA Motor Corporation, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. presented the Monster sport E-RUNNER Pikes Peak special in an effort to promote the efforts of the EV race movement. The batteries powering the Monster sport E-RUNNER are built by Mitsubishi and we have added some pictures so you can see what is actually supplying the power to this vehicle.

Monster sport E-RUNNER Pikes Peak special specs:

• Make: TAJIMA Motor Corporation
• Body: Chassis Aluminum space frame
• Panels: Carbon fiber composite
• Motor: 2x Liquid cooled motor
• Battery: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES “MLiX” Lithium-ion
• Inverter: RINEHART MOTION SYSTEMS LLC
• Drive train: [Type]All wheel drive
• Differential: Front/Rear: Hydraulic Controlled
• Drive Shaft: NTN Constant velocity joints
• Suspension: [Type]Front/Rear:Double wishbone
• Brake: Disc/Caliper Front/Rear:Dia.370mm ventilated/8 pot
• Facing: Front/ Rear: Winmax
• Tire&Wheel: Tire Front/Rear: 295/40-20 FALKEN ZIEX S/TZ01
• Dimensions: Overall:5500L x 1950W x 1300H mm (including front and rear wing)
• Wheelbase: 2700mm

About the Pikes Peak race:

Known as the “Race to the Clouds”, the Colorado Springs Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the most famous automotive climbing event in the world. It is also one of the world’s oldest motor-sport events, 2nd only to the Indy 500 started in 1911.

Video of Tajima breaking the world record in 2011 in his 910HP twin Turbo Monster Sport SX4 Pikes Peak Special:

Monster sport E-RUNNER Pikes Peak special video: