Toyota Motor Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Daihatsu released a jointly developed, micro-sized electric van at the recent G7 summit in Japan.
The three companies designed the mini commercial electric van for the Japanese delivery industry and expect to release it by March 31, 2024.
The van will run on a battery electric vehicle system and feature a range of approximately 124 miles per charge. It will carry a “kei” classification, reserved for Japan’s smallest highway-legal passenger vehicles. Micro kei vehicles are often used by Japanese companies for delivery purposes. In fact, transportation ministry data indicated that 40% of the country’s four-wheel vehicles were kei models as of the end of February.
Other Japanese automakers working to develop small commercial electric van lineups include Honda Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Honda announced in December that it would sell a micro-sized commercial electric van with an expected range of 124 miles in 2024. Mitsubishi relaunched its Minicab-MiEV with a cruising range of 82 miles last November.
Japanese delivery company Sagawa Express Co. also announced a plan to replace its 7,200 commercial mini vehicles with EVs.
