Meet the Mitsuoka Himiko, it’s a Japanese car based on the venerable Mazda Miata but instead of the relatively plain Miata body it has a shell clearly inspired by post-WW2 Jaguars. The Japanese company TGMY have decided to use the Himiko as the base of their new production electric car and get this, it has a range of 550kms (324 miles).

It achieves this range with a large lithium-polymer battery system, reduced running resistance and regenerative braking. The company will begin taking orders in the second half of this year, hopefully by then we’ll have more information on pricing and other specifications. No word yet on whether the car will be available outside of Japan although it is considered highly likely, though not till 2012 at the earliest.

“One of these cases contains 21 cells. Usually, there are 7 or 8 cells per pack, but we’ve saved space by stacking them. When we considered how to make battery packs safe, light, and strong, this was the form we came up with.”

“We’ve spent a long time reducing the running resistance of the car, and improving its performance per unit energy. So now, we’re using those advances to fine-tune the car itself. We’ve reached the stage where a range of 500 km is definitely realistic.” - TGMY Spokesperson

“One of these cases contains 21 cells. Usually, there are 7 or 8 cells per pack, but we’ve saved space by stacking them. When we considered how to make battery packs safe, light, and strong, this was the form we came up with.”

“We’ve spent a long time reducing the running resistance of the car, and improving its performance per unit energy. So now, we’re using those advances to fine-tune the car itself. We’ve reached the stage where a range of 500 km is definitely realistic.” – TGMY Spokesperson

What do you think? Is this prettier than a Tesla Roadster?