Panasonic AA battery-powered race car speeds at 122km/h

Perhaps you’re sick of seeing rabbits in battery commercials, but Panasonic is trying something new in Japan. This morning the company demonstrated a race car that runs on 192 pieces of their Oxyride AA-sized battery (yes, the ones you use in flashlights and older CD walkmans). And this amazing little car was able to attain a maximum speed of 122km/h (75.8miles/h), and an average 109.5km/h when running back and forth on a 1km track. We’ve got a video here, and a closer look at the battery unit after the jump.


– Sam Chan
Electric cars, with the exception of fuel cell cars, will always be a joke until someone invents a better battery or power supply.
What a great idea. Now if you run out of power on the road, you can just stop at your local convenience store and buy some batteries to refill the tank. I bet it’s tricky changing the batteries in this thing so make sure there’s a detailed diagram although I’m sure the spring thing will be helpful.