9. Initiating Car Electronics

In the 1960s, pollution became a significant social problem in Japan, a byproduct of rapid economic growth and heavy industrialization. A critical aspect of air pollution related to automobiles was the emission of pollutants such as carbon monoxide. In the United States, proactive measures to combat vehicle emissions had already gained momentum by the late 1950s. California enacted the “Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Act” in 1960, mandating the installation of exhaust purification devices on 1968 model vehicles.

Responding to requests from car manufacturers, our company had been researching emission purification devices. For vehicles exported to the U.S., we determined that the “air injection system” was an effective immediate solution and established a production system for air pumps. However, some within our company anticipated that stricter future regulations would necessitate the development of "gasoline injection systems."

Given our prior experience with fuel injection systems for diesel engines, acquired through a 1957 technical partnership with Robert Bosch GmbH, we believed it was feasible to develop gasoline injection systems. We decided to develop a ”mechanical gasoline injection" system and immediately initiated the project.

Despite extensive trials and experiments, mechanical systems invariably faced precision limitations, failing to meet the fuel injection requirements for the desired air-fuel ratio. The inherent limitations of mechanical systems gradually became apparent.

Around this time, engineers in the electronics development division began researching and developing “electronically controlled injection systems.” The struggles and experiences with mechanical systems were not in vain. These efforts eventually culminated in the full-scale development of “EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection)” systems in the 1970s, marking a significant breakthrough in our technological advancements.