Would the eK X work for NZ? EV owners get to express their view.

FEEDBACK from electric vehicle owners seems set to influence whether a baby Mitsubishi achieves New Zealand residency, potentially as the country’s most affordable battery-pure new car.

Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand has taken the unusual step of going to social media, specifically targeting an EV owner portal of Facebook, about whether the teensy eK X EV could be a goer.

Those who sign up to contribute thought will be sent a short email survey, set to be delivered before the end of a month, with all involving being up to win a $500 pre-pay Visa card. The post is from the company’s marketing manager, Reece Congden.

EK X is a five-door, four-seater city commuter with 180kms’ range created to meet Japan’s particular microcar standard, called Kei class. This requires cars to fit in a certain tight dimensional bracket and have limited power outputs. 

MMNZ is believed to have an example on trial. It has also has been here before. Effectively eK X is a heir apparent to the i-MiEV, the equally diminutive five-door hatch that MMNZ made an early contender for consideration back in 2010, when electric cars were very much still a novelty. It was the first to be commercially available and arrived with a huge price.

More than a decade on, electric is settled in and though no local price or specification has been settled, eK X could start at just over $30,000, going by Japanese domestic positioning.

At 3395mm long, 1475mm wide, and 1655mm tall, the eK X is hardly any different in dimension to i-MiEV and it also links to the plug-in electric cars that presently drive the brand’s ambitions here, by having the same 20kWh battery pack as the Outlander PHEV. 

Being so much smaller and lighter, eK X achieves almost one third again the absolute pure EV range claimed for the seven-seater SUV.

The little hatch has a front-mounted motor, producing 47kW/195Nm. As is typical of Japan domestic market product, it has a Chademo plug, rather than the more internationally useful CCS type.

Nissan NZ has given no indication that its version, called Sakura, is being considered so Mitsubishi would conceivably have a nice to itself.

Even so, MMNZ might not be going alone, as its equivalent in Australia is also considering eK X. Over there, a great complication is whether it will achieve an ANCAP crash test safety rating. That’s not necessarily a hindrance here, as cars with ANCAP scores can still introduce, under the alternate Vehicle Safety Risk Ratings scheme.

Even though the eK X has much modern technology, Mitsubishi Australia believe it would likely carry a one to three star ANCAP rating. Not as good as the five star scores meted the Outlander and smaller Eclipse Cross, but better than nothing. 

The ASX, Pajero Sport and on-runout Triton ute hold are now so old their ANCAP five-star ratings have expired. MMNZ also had an L300 van, derived from the Renault Trafic, that was the only new vehicle to ever receive a zero-star rating from the testing authority.

EK X’s safety gear includes auto emergency braking, and departure warning, driver attention alert, and traffic sign recognition. On the options list in Japan are auto parking, radar cruise control, lane keep assist, and a surround view monitor.

The eK X also has seven airbags, including a driver’s knee airbag, but no centre airbag.

Standard equipment includes LED headlights, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, heated steering wheel, cloth interior trim, a nine inch multimedia touch screen with Apple CArPlay and Android Auto connectivity. It runs 14 inch wheels in base form, with 15-inch alloys also optioned.