We don’t get kei cars here in the Philippines, but our readers seem to have a fondness for them. Truth be told, we’d like a few of them here, too. Their size and space efficiency would sometimes make you ask, ‘do I really need a midsize SUV around the city?’
Well, there’s another kei car that’s caught our attention. It’s the Mitsubishi Minicab EV, and it might just be the perfect inner-city delivery van.
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As the name suggests, it’s a battery-powered kei van. In many ways, using electric power for an inner city delivery vehicle makes sense. It won’t be going into the province at all, and the range of these kinds of EVs should be more than enough for a day’s work. At the same time, the small footprint of a kei van means it should be nippy around traffic and tight spots.
But wait, a small van won’t carry a lot of things, right? Well, obviously, the Minicab EV won’t have the same cargo capacity as an L300, but Mitsubishi maximized the available floor space in the little van. There’s nearly two meters of space behind the front seats, which should be more than enough for small parcels, and light loads. Speaking of loads, it has a payload capacity of 350kg, although Mitsubishi says that goes down to 200kg if four people are on board.
Yes, there is an option to add back seats to the little electric Mitsubishi. While it’s primarily a van for businesses, it’s nice to know that the company is aware that these vans would occasionally do family duties.
The interior can be best described as basic, but that’s what one would expect from a business vehicle. It’s all hard grey plastic in there, and you can forget about trimmings and luxuries. It does get air conditioning and, surprisingly, heated seats. Oh, and there’s a window crank for the rear occupants.
As it’s a small vehicle, it doesn’t need a massive battery. Its motor draws energy from a 20kWh battery, enough to give it a range of up to 180km. Battery consumption is rated at 7km/kWh to 9.8km/kWh, depending on road and traffic conditions. Power and torque are rated at 41hp and 195Nm of torque.
For those curious about prices, the Mitsubishi Minicab EV ranges for ¥2,431,000 (two-seater) to ¥2,486,000 (four-seater with windows). Converted to local currency, that would be around P909,000 to P930,000. Sure, it’s more expensive than something like a Lite Ace, but it’s an interesting electric take on the small delivery van.
