GLM株式会社
Kyoto, JP · 3 known investors
GLM is a Japanese electric vehicle company that develops and sells environmentally friendly automobiles and related services, including EV sports cars and EV platforms. It originated from a Kyoto University electric vehicle project and produces the Tommykaira ZZ EV sports car along with EV platform rental and component development.
Also known as GLM Co., Ltd. · GLM.Co.,LTD. · Green Road Motors · グリーンロードモータース株式会社
Founders & leadership
Investors · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026GLM株式会社 (GLM Co., Ltd.) is a Kyoto-based electric vehicle company whose stated business is the development and sale of environmentally compliant automobiles and associated services. It originated as the "Kyoto Electric Vehicle Project" started in April 2006 within Kyoto University's Venture Business Laboratory, and the project was incorporated in April 2010 as Green Road Motors, renamed GLM株式会社 in April 2014. The company is capitalized at 100 million yen and is headed by Representative Director Yuichi Miyashita; its head office and technical center are in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto (74-3 Takeda Mukaishirocho), a four-storey facility completed in 2018 after the site was acquired in December 2016. Wikipedia lists 27 employees.
GLM's activity rests on two linked pillars: a finished-vehicle business and a platform business. The finished-vehicle line began with the Tommykaira ZZ, a two-seat sports EV whose brand license GLM acquired in December 2010 and which entered volume production in October 2015 at Kosaka Metal Industry in Maizuru, Kyoto; it was sold at 8 million yen before tax in a 99-unit limited run. A planned EV supercar, the GLM G4, was shown at the 2016 Paris Motor Show and given a Japan premiere in April 2017 with a projected price of 40 million yen and a 1,000-unit plan, but in March 2018 GLM announced it would suspend the G4 programme and concentrate development resources on its second-generation platform. Since August 2023 GLM has offered MiMoS, a kei-class EV adapted for the Japanese market from the Chinese-built JIAYUAN "KOMI" microcar, sold and leased to government bodies and companies considering sharing services; MiMoS became eligible for Japan's CEV subsidy in January 2024.
The platform business supplies EV-specific engineering services: chassis and powertrain modules, R&D and mass-production support for automakers, and technical support for parts, materials, chemical and IT companies entering automotive markets. Published technology areas include vehicle body development, lightweight vehicle development, prototype build for R&D vehicles, automotive regulatory conformity, EV powertrain development, electrical design and high-voltage battery development. Recent product work includes an in-vehicle sub-battery system for commercial vehicles, and the project archive lists work with Apollo Future Mobility (Apollo G2J), Univance, Kyocera, Teijin, Asahi Kasei (AKXY) and a GLM electric mobility scooter.
Founding story
The company grew out of the Kyoto Electric Vehicle Project established in April 2006 at Kyoto University's Venture Business Laboratory under former vice-president Kazumi Matsushige, and was incorporated in April 2010 to commercialize it. According to investor UTEC, the founder had previously run a BPO business serving consumer-electronics manufacturers and observed the decline of Japanese makers first-hand, leading to an ambition to build products from scratch using Japanese engineering strength; the project's inter-company network was used as the base for the new venture.
Business model
GLM operates a finished-vehicle business alongside a platform/engineering-services business, with knowledge deliberately cycled between the two. Vehicles (Tommykaira ZZ, MiMoS) and components such as a commercial-vehicle sub-battery are sold or leased directly, while the platform side is contracted project work: consulting, joint and commissioned development, prototype construction, regulatory conformity and, since August 2018, rental supply of EV platforms. Platform engagements have no fixed template and range from roughly one-month planning studies to multi-year programmes and open-ended joint development aligned with a client's own schedule.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, history
Market position
GLM presents itself as an EV specialist manufacturer operating since 2010, and is characterized as a Kyoto University-originated venture. The Tommykaira ZZ is described as Japan's first mass-production sports-car-type EV, and the GLM G4 was billed as Japan's first EV supercar before its programme was suspended. Investor materials frame the strategy as lowering the automotive industry's remaining entry barrier—the chassis—by modularizing and selling platforms to enable new entrants, in a sector historically dominated by vertically integrated global incumbents.
Technology
Core technology is an in-house EV platform combining a chassis (frame, steering, suspension) with a powertrain (motor, battery, vehicle control unit) that is drivable in its own right and modularized so that powertrain or suspension sections can be supplied separately. The first-generation platform used in the Tommykaira ZZ has a high-rigidity aluminium alloy bathtub section formed as a single bent piece front to rear for torsional stiffness, with a patented main frame; its powertrain module was also used in Asahi Kasei's AKXY concept. A second-generation platform under development targets flexibility across more vehicle types, centering on an EV system (motor, inverter, battery, control system) with coordinated control of vehicle electronics and readiness for ADAS and over-the-air software updates. The Tommykaira ZZ itself uses an FRP outer frame, weighs under one tonne, deliberately omits power steering, brake booster and traction control, and has a 225 kW (305 PS) motor, 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds, 180 km/h top speed and 120 km range. Other disclosed work includes an 800V-capable SiC inverter prototype and high-voltage battery development.
Go-to-market
Platform work starts from an inquiry form followed by several meetings to map each side's strengths, objectives and targets, after which GLM proposes an engagement; the company positions its engineers as a consulting team helping clients shape products around the question of what automakers would adopt. Visibility is built through motor shows and events (Paris Motor Show 2016, Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015, Japan Truck Show 2026), joint development announcements with large corporates, and published case studies, engineer interviews and technical columns on its site. The company is actively recruiting engineers, citing business expansion.
Domestic and overseas automakers seeking R&D and mass-production support; parts, materials, chemical and IT companies expanding into automotive-related business; companies planning EV concept cars or technology validation vehicles. For MiMoS, government agencies and corporations considering car-sharing services; the Hinohara Village (Tokyo) car-share with Village is an example. The Tommykaira ZZ targeted individual sports-car buyers in a 99-unit limited series.
History
The Kyoto Electric Vehicle Project was launched in April 2006 inside Kyoto University's VBL; in April 2010 it was incorporated as Green Road Motors, which took a license to the Tommykaira finished-vehicle brand in December 2010 and was renamed GLM株式会社 in April 2014. An R&D center opened at the Uji venture incubation plant in August 2012, and in October 2012 the company obtained Japanese type certification for an EV sports car—described as a first for a venture. The Tommykaira ZZ design was unveiled in April 2013 and first deliveries began in August 2014, with volume production from October 2015; the car was invited to the UK's Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2015. The GLM G4 concept appeared at the Paris Motor Show in September 2016 and in Tokyo in April 2017. Joint developments followed with Asahi Kasei (AKXY concept, May 2017), Teijin (resin front windshield, June 2017), Kyocera (concept car, May 2018) and Univance (EV/HEV transmission in a test vehicle, July 2019). Yaskawa Electric announced a capital tie-up in September 2016, and in July 2017 GLM entered a capital alliance with Hong Kong main-board listed O Luxe Holdings (renamed WE Solutions Limited in 2018). The Fushimi head office and technical center opened in November 2018. Later milestones include an 800V-capable SiC inverter prototype (July 2020), a senior-mobility concept (October 2020), the Apollo G2J prototype EV sports car (November 2022), the MiMoS kei EV (2023) and a sub-battery co-development with Eberspächer Mikuni Climate Control Systems (2025).
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- GLM株式会社glm.jp · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does GLM株式会社 do?
- Kyoto EV maker GLM builds electric vehicle platforms, the Tommykaira ZZ sports EV and the MiMoS kei-class EV.
- Who are GLM株式会社's investors?
- GLM株式会社's investors include aSTART, Globis Capital Partners, UTEC.
- Where is GLM株式会社 headquartered?
- GLM株式会社 is headquartered in Kyoto, JP.