The first automobiles were electric and they weren't American:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicl...

The most important component in an EV is the battery. The lithium ion battery made electric cars practical.

So you could say Sony invented the electric car industry by being the first to commercialize lithium ion batteries:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_lithium-ion_bat...