For decades kei truck and trucks have served as the backbone of Japanese the infrastructure. Rugged and super compact commercial vehicle Deliveries in crowded cities are just as common as they are in delivering crops on rural farms. Honda’s motobike are betting that these simple vehicles will be a great way to get more electric cars on the road in Japan.
The Honda N-Van is an already popular kei valve that boasts incredible packing efficiency. The asymmetrical design features a pillarless structure on the passenger side, creating a large loading port. Commercial versions can be equipped with only one driver’s seat, while the rest of the interior can be folded completely flat. These features are such a boon for packing and maximizing cargo capacity, that Honda even created a lone camper concept out of N-Van.
The N-Van debuted in 2018 and was designed as a petrol car, so the battery Packaging is limited. Honda claims a cruise range of 124 miles, which is enough for daily commuting in Japan. It might even suffice for the one business day’s worth of last mile deliveries that kei trucks are commonly used in urban areas.
The N-Van’s best-selling point could be its starting price, which is just 1 million yen, or just under $7,300 a hair at current exchange rates in favor of the dollar. Balancing with the historical average, the price would be closer to around $10,000. That’s still an amazing entry price for a full battery tram. For comparison, the most affordable EV in the US is Chevy Bolt, priced at $25,600. Even with a federal credit of $6,000, that’s still a $12,000 delta.
Honda intentionally priced the N-Van EV at its petrol equivalent, in the hope that consumers would opt for the zero-emissions variant. Japanese consumers have a lower-than-average share of electric vehicle purchases, just 1% last year, compared with 2.5% in the US. percentage is 8.3%.
However, public opinion may be changing. Just yesterday, Japan’s Car of the Year was awarded to NISSAN Sakura and Mitsubishi eK X EV, a passenger kei van built by Mitsubishi and renamed by Nissan.
Mitsubishi has pioneered electric kei cars, starting with the i-MIEV launched in 2009. It also offers a commercial kei van, the Minicab-MiEV, but with a shorter range than the Honda N-Van EV. , only 130 km. while priced at 2.2 million yen, or $16,000.
The Honda N-Van EV will go on sale in spring 2024 in Japan.
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