There is something fascinating about kei cars. These JDMs, made by Japanese manufacturers for the Japanese domestic market, happen to be the most popular cars here in Japan. Kei cars have size restrictions and an engine displacement that remains under 660cc, allowing the tiny vehicle to fall under a cheaper tax bracket. Owners benefit from cheaper toll fees on the highway and lower insurance rates, making the cost of vehicle ownership much more affordable. But what happens when Japan’s best selling kei car turns electric?
Electric cars are known for their struggles with range, heavy batteries, and expensive price tag. Kei cars are faced with the same issues as they turn electric, but they must do so all while keeping the characteristics that make them tiny and affordable, and that classify them as kei cars. Beyond being curious to experience life with an electric kei car, I got behind the wheel of the Nissan Sakura, Nissan’s first electric kei car co-developed with Mitsubishi. During my time with the Sakura, I drove it in the narrow streets of Tokyo and took it for the ultimate Sakura road trip, driving from Tokyo to Sakura (yes, Sakura, the city) to understand how this unassuming little electric kei managed to not only become Japan’s car of the year in 2022-2023, but also Japan’s best-selling EV for those two years as well.
A Realistic Drive With The Nissan Sakura, From Tokyo To Sakura
Located in the neighboring Chiba prefecture, Sakura is only a short 30-mile drive away from central Tokyo. The Nissan Sakura comes with a 20kWh battery and claims an official range of up to 112 miles, but in my case, a full charge only brought the Sakura’s range to 90 miles. This meant going to Sakura would use up about one-third of the battery. Going from Tokyo to Sakura takes about an hour, and you’ll drive on the highway for most of the trip. Despite having researched a few charging spots beforehand, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anxiety about the Sakura’s performance on the highway and whether I’d be able to make it without any trouble to my not-so-far-away destination.
As it turned out, I had completely underestimated the Sakura. With the destination set on the Sakura’s navigation system, the directions indicated how much battery percentage it would take to make it to each interchange and intersection, reassuring me that I had more than enough battery to make it to my destination. The Sakura wasn’t the most efficient EV, with a consumption averaging 5.1 Wh/km. I might also want to add that the A/C blasting in the middle of the summer did not help either. Yet as I arrived in Sakura, the battery level had only dropped about 20% from when I originally left Tokyo, which was much less than what I had expected. This was still enough to drive around without much worry, so I went on to explore Sakura city. I stopped by a shopping mall for lunch where I left the car to charge for 30 min, and drove around some more for the rest of the day to photograph the Sakur. I did charge it again for another 30 minutes before heading back to Tokyo.
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How The Nissan Sakura’s Limited Range Is Specifically Tailored To Our Driving Habits
Totaling up to about 80 miles in one day, my short day-trip involved a lot of driving in order to both test and photograph the car. Would I have driven that much if I wasn’t out on assignment? The answer is, probably no. Statistics also seem to point to the same conclusion and that, daily, people tend not to drive that far here in Japan.
Though limited range is often seen as a concern when buying an EV even here in Japan, Japanese car owners only drive their vehicles on an average of 230 miles every month according to research done by the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). Out of this average, 58% of drivers only drive their cars for 186 miles or less every month. With an average use of 5 days a week, this comes down to driving about 8 to 10 miles a day, often for small errands and commuting.
“Statistics prove that most of the time, you probably won’t be going far enough to feel any anxiety at all. With an average of 10 miles driven per day, the Sakura’s 90 to 120 miles range cover it just fine.”
JAMA also pointed out how rising fuel costs have had a direct impact on car usage, decreasing the frequency of use and the frequency of long-distance trips for travel and leisure by over 20% since 2021. While range anxiety is a very real feeling to consider when going electric, statistics prove that most of the time, you probably won’t be going far enough to feel any anxiety at all. With an average of 10 miles driven per day, the Sakura’s 90 to 120-mile range covers it just fine.
How The Sakura Dodges The Burden Of Limited Infrastructure And Long Charging Times
On my trip to Sakura and back, I stopped twice to charge the Sakura for 30 minutes each time. While charging an EV in Japan has often made me nervous, the Sakura made the experience surprisingly stress-free.
Here in Japan, 90 kW fast chargers remain scarce, and you will most commonly find charging stations that offer chargers of 50 kW or less, at convenience stores, town halls, or dealerships. The lack of fast chargers makes it more challenging and time-consuming to charge cars with bigger batteries – think brand-new Nissan Ariya Nismo and its 91 kWh battery or Taycan Turbo and its 93.4 kWh battery. It doesn’t get better when charging at home either. According to JAMA, only few people install chargers at home, citing high installation costs and lack of space.
Here again, the Sakura manages to overcome these hurdles. The small 20 kWh battery may not take you very far, but its size also means it charges up much quicker. As I plugged the Sakura to a fast charger, the Sakura only needed 30 minutes to go from 20% to 76% (57% gain), extending its range from 18 miles to 71 miles (53 miles gain) in this short amount of time. I also tried to charge the Sakura with the much slower 220V charger, which is widely available across Japan, contrary to fast chargers. While charging larger batteries with 220V chargers will barely get you any juice, the Sakura manages to get a good charge from them. For a full charge with a 200V charger, the Sakura needs about 7 to 8 hours. For reference, charging the Ariya’s 90 kWh battery with a 200V charger would take about 35 hours.
“With a 200V charger, the Sakura needs about 7 to 8 hours. For reference, charging the Ariya’s 90 kWh battery with a 200V charger would take about 35 hours.”
You can easily charge the Sakura at home overnight with a 200V socket, and wake up to a fully charged battery. And if you don’t have the adequate infrastructure at home, a 200V charger can be installed for about $400 to $500 here in Japan, while a faster 6 kWh charger installation for bigger EVs will require a much heftier investment, as the whole installation process will cost upwards of $2,700.
Electric Cars Are Expensive. The Nissan Sakura Is Actually Affordable
Vehicle prices have been on a constant rise over the past decade, and have only increased at a faster rate with inflation over the past few years. The current average vehicle purchase price has also risen and now averages 2.64 million yen (approx. $18,000). This average price gets you a compact car (think Nissan Note, or Toyota Yaris). Owners looking for more affordable options will turn to kei cars, which are a class below compact cars. Not only are kei cars slightly more affordable, they also come with various advantages ranging from lower toll fees to lower insurance fees, making them more enticing overall. As a matter of fact, the kei car is Japanese people’s preferred vehicle, with 40% of owners driving kei cars.
Looking at previous years, the Honda N-Box was Japan’s most-sold car (all classes combined) in 2022 and 2023, only to be overtaken by the Suzuki Spacia (another kei car model) in 2024. Prices for the Spacia and N-Box fall into the typical price range for kei cars, with prices starting at around ¥1,600,000 (approx. $11,000), going all the way up to about ¥2,300,000 (approx. $15,000) for the top trims.
As an EV, the Sakura does end up being pricier than the average kei car, with a starting price of ¥2,599,300 (approx. $17,200), going up to ¥3,082,000 for the top trim (approx. $20,400). However, with government subsidies for EVs, prospective buyers will receive ¥500,000 (approx. $3,300) of cashback when buying a brand-new EV, bringing the Sakura down to the average kei car prices. While the Sakura remains more expensive than other kei cars, Nissan did pack quite a bit of tech and improved the overall comfort of the Sakura, compared to other kei cars that often tend to feel much cheaper inside, and much less smooth on the road due to the commonly used CVT transmission.
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What We Can Learn From Nissan’s Electric Kei Car
Just like any other EV, the Sakura isn’t immune to issues such as battery degradation or performance under cold weather. But what makes the Sakura such a brilliant EV is its ability to provide a concrete answer to the very real lifestyle of many Japanese car owners. While owners who do travel further will find it difficult to only rely on the Sakura’s short range and getting a Sakura might only be possible for those willing to have a 2-car garage, it is worth noting that 40% of households in Japan own 2 or more cars. Here again, the Sakura is worth serious consideration, especially when a majority of households are looking to keep their living expenses down wherever possible during this inflation. As for the ever-so worrying issue of range, statistics point out that in reality, we probably do not need as much range as we’d like to think.
“the Sakura provides a real answer to drivers who are looking for a convenient daily all while keeping car ownership costs down. It’s an EV that makes sense.”
Where the Nissan Sakura really makes its mark is in the way it does not try to cater to all car owners. With its kei car benefits, its affordable kei car price tag (inclusive of subsidy), and its purposefully small battery, the Sakura provides a real answer to drivers who are looking for a convenient daily all while keeping car ownership costs down. It’s an EV that makes sense.
In the end, it is no coincidence that the Sakura has become Japan’s best-selling EV for two consecutive years since it first launched in 2022. Rare are the EVs that will achieve the Sakura’s success, and that is because rare are the EVs that manage to answer all aspects of car owners’ needs. EVs still only make up a small percentage of all the cars here in Japan, but if there’s one EV I recurrently see both in and outside of Tokyo, it is without a shadow of a doubt the Sakura.
