The SCRIT electron scattering facility, aiming at electron scattering off short-lived unstable nuclei, has been constructed at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory. This facility consists of a racetrack microtron (RTM), an electron storage ring (SR2) equipped with the SCRIT system, and a low-energy RI separator (ERIS). SCRIT (self-confining radioactive isotope ion targeting) is a novel technique to form internal targets in an electron storage ring. Experiments for evaluating performance of the SCRIT system have been carried out using the stable 133Cs1+ beam and the 132Xe1+ beam supplied from ERIS. Target ions were successfully trapped in the SCRIT system with 90% efficiency at a 250 mA electron beam current, and luminosity exceeding 10261026/(cm2 s) was maintained for more than 1 s. Electrons elastically scattered from the target ions were successfully measured. Applicability of the SCRIT system to electron scattering for unstable nuclei has been established in experiments.