This electric kei car is affordable and perfect for urban dwellers.
Mitsubishi introduced a new kei vehicle in Japan, the eK X EV. The X can be read as ‘cross’. This is a fully electric kei car, and the newest member in the eK X family. It will be available to purchase in the summer.
Let’s start with how it looks. It looks familiar, doesn’t it? It does indeed look like a cartoon of the new Mitsubishi Outlander. It’s not surprising that Mitsubishi markets the eK X as a kei car with SUV flavor.
The eK X EV has a cartoonish appearance, but it’s actually a small and affordable vehicle. The new electric kei car costs 1,848,000 yen (roughly $14,000 at current exchange rates) when you include subsidies. It’s not bad.
This money can get you a vehicle capable of driving 112 miles (180 km) per charge, which is great for city dwellers. Regular charging takes eight hours to charge the 20-kWh battery to its full capacity. Quick charging takes 40 minutes to reach 80 percent.
Mitsubishi believes these numbers are sufficient, since a survey has shown that around 80 percent of kei car owners and compact car drivers drive 31 miles (50 km) per day or less.
Although the Mitsubishi eK X EV doesn’t have a lot of power, it is a reliable car. The Mitsubishi eK X EV produces decent numbers. It has 63 horsepower (47kW) and 195 Newton meters (144 pound-feet). This is just enough to get around the city for your daily chores and errands.
The Mitsubishi eK X EV, like the Outlander, is developed in close collaboration with the automaker. Nissan’s version of this vehicle is the Sakura. However, it looks like a cartoonized version of the Nissan Ariya that ran into a brick wall.