Hyperdrive
Electric Car Revolution Crushes Japan’s Struggling Small Towns
- Shizuoka is home to hundreds of combustion-engine suppliers
- Nation has pledged to go carbon neutral by 2050, risking jobs
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Fuji Oozx Inc. is one of hundreds of automotive-parts suppliers in Japan whose very existence is being threatened by the world’s shift toward electric vehicles.
For almost 70 years, the company has been making intake valves, an essential component of any gasoline car that controls the flow of gas in and out of an engine’s cylinder. Typically made of copper, they’re light and highly heat resistant and use a decades-old technology that’s not needed in any electric car.