The new light EV will appear at Makuhari Messe "live"!! The power and potential of Mitsubishi & Nissan light EV

The new light EV will appear at Makuhari Messe "live"!! The power and potential of Mitsubishi & Nissan light EV


 Nissan has announced that it will be released in early 2022, a light-sized battery EV. The light EV concept car "K-EV concept X Style", which seems to be the Mitsubishi version, was exhibited at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2022 held the other day.

What surprised me was that, unlike the Nissan version, which is said to have a special exterior, the K-EV concept X Style has the same exterior as the currently available "eK Cross". Can't the Mitsubishi version light EV be given a special exterior!?

Text: Kenichi Yoshikawa Photo: MITSUBISHI, NISSAN, M3 Production

[Image Gallery] Mitsubishi "K-EV concept X Style" exhibited at Tokyo Auto Salon 2022, Nissan "IMk" that appeared at Tokyo Motor Show 2019, Mitsubishi's light EV "i-MiEV" (30 Photo Gallery

Will the commercial version also appear with the exterior of the eK cloth?

A light standard battery that has been planned and developed by Mitsubishi and Nissan's joint venture "NMKV" The EV has a total drive battery of 20 kWh, which is about half the size of the Nissan Leaf (40 kWh), but thanks to its light size and light body, it has enough capacity for daily driving. In the unlikely event of a power outage, it can also be used as an emergency power supply by supplying stored power to homes via V2H equipment.

 Of course, it is equipped with the latest driving support functions and connected functions, and the actual price is expected to start at 2 million yen.

 The exterior design of the "K-EV concept X Style" that debuted at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2022 includes a special two-tone matte blue and copper color and smoother front mesh grille holes. , There are some differences from the eK Cross, such as the fog lamp shape of the front bumper, the “EV” logo on the front fender, and the newly designed wheels, but other than that, it is almost the same.

New light EV live

On this point, when I asked Mr. Daisuke Sato, Manager of Product Planning, CPS Team, Mitsubishi Motors Product Strategy Headquarters, he said, "I can't answer at this time whether (the light EV) will be released as it is, but Mitsubishi We believe that it is important to provide customers with popular styling without regard for light EVs as special."

 It is possible to change the color of the front grille, but unlike Nissan's light EV, it seems that Mitsubishi's light EV will appear as it is. Let's predict that the car name will be "eK X (cross) MiEV".

 Nissan version of the light EV may be given the car name "Sakura" in some reports, but no official announcement has been made yet. As soon as we have new information about this, we will let you know.

 In regards to the interior, it was not possible to check the windows because of the thick smoke, but it will be replaced with a battery EV dedicated meter display. It is also worth noting that the Mitsubishi version of the professional pilot “MI-PILOT”, which was a manufacturer option in the eK Cross and eK Cross Space, and the electric PKB with auto hold will be installed as standard.

 As for the Nissan version, the interior of Nissan's light EV concept car "IMk", which appeared at the Tokyo Motor Show 2019, has a 2-spoke steering wheel with a touch panel, a fabric-like instrument panel surface material, meters and information The tainment monitor was embedded in the dashboard and was characteristic, but I would like to see how much it can be reproduced with a commercial model.

Battery capacity is determined in consideration of "how to use a light vehicle"

 The drive battery of the "K-EV concept X Style" extends from the bottom of the front seat to the vicinity of the original fuel tank. was loaded. The cruising range with this drive battery, which is half that of the Leaf, is about 180 to 200 km, considering that the cruising range of the Leaf is 322 km (WLTC mode) in the catalog value and the light weight of a mini vehicle. catalog value).

About this cruising range, when I asked Mr. Shogo Yoshikawa, Mitsubishi Motors Domestic Sales Headquarters Model Group 1 Group Manager, he said, "I can't answer the cruising range of a light EV on a full charge at this time, but The actual usage of the car by users is very common, such as shopping, hospitals, government offices, and friends' homes within a few kilometers round trip as a daily commute.

 When it comes to the suburbs away from the city center, the light car becomes the second car, the third car, and a large passenger car such as a minivan is the first car. For light EVs, we set the appropriate battery capacity that takes into account the usage of the user, and set the details so that the cost and electricity consumption are appropriate. ”.

For Mitsubishi, when traveling long distances, a plug-in hybrid is more suitable than a battery EV in terms of the amount of CO2 emitted from the car manufacturing stage. PHEV” is being prepared.

 The author also believes that the conversion of all car models to battery EVs is not the only answer to achieving carbon neutrality. I think the solution is to use a battery EV for short-distance travel, and a clean diesel or strong hybrid (including plug-in) with good fuel efficiency for long-distance travel. I was very relieved on this point.

Next page: The contents are the same light EV, but the difference is the strategy!? Is it a cost issue!?