2023 Mitsubishi eK X electric review: Is this the EV Mitsubishi needs in Australia?

It didn’t take long, but EVs are now well and truly fashionable and desirable… although, they’re playing hard to get.

A combination of low supply and high prices have made battery-electric vehicles largely the preserve of the well-heeled; those who can not only afford the EV premium on the retail sticker but those who can also afford to wait a while for their car to arrive.

With supplies so tight, the used EV market – as minuscule as it is – offers little respite for those wanting to put an electron-chugger in their driveway, and buying new still requires at least $45K in your pocket if you aim for Australia’s most-affordable electric car, the MG ZS EV.

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Business-minded individuals would naturally recognise that there’s an opportunity here, and it appears Mitsubishi Motors Australia is on that wavelength. Speaking to Wheels recently, Mitsubishi’s local boss Shaun Westcott indicated that the ek X EV, a sub-compact kei-class electric vehicle that launched in Japan last year, holds potential for Australia as a ‘starter’ EV – and it could be the most affordable all-electric option in the country by a wide margin.

But will the ek X EV translate well into the Australian environment when the company’s last EV, the i-MiEV (2009-2013) failed to get traction here? We hopped on a jet to Japan to take a first-hand look.

JUMP AHEAD

• How much is it, and what do you get?
• How do rivals compare on value?
• Interior comfort, space and storage
• What is it like to drive?
• How much energy does it use?
• How safe is it?
• Warranty and running costs
• VERDICT
• Specifications

How much is it, and what do you get?

This section might as well be a big ol’ question mark, because right now, we have no idea what kind of dollar value Mitsubishi’s local product planners would put on an Australian-delivered ek X EV.

However, Japanese pricing offers some guidance.

In its homeland, the ek X EV’s two-grade range begins at the equivalent of roughly AU$27,000 and tops out at $33,020, with the Japanese government chipping in an incentive payment that ratchets those prices down by a few thousand more.

If Mitsubishi Australia can get close to those price tags, then the ek X EV would surely find an audience – albeit a quite specific one, as we’ll get into later.

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Is that a Nissan steering wheel? Yep. Versions of the eK X are also sold as the Nissan Dayz and Nissan Sakura.

If we use the high-grade ‘P’ spec variant as an example (Aussie tastes tend to favour feature-rich offerings, so it seems sensible to aim for the range-topper), then the standard equipment list is decent.

A 9.0-inch touchscreen is the centrepiece of the tiny cabin and packs in Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while the driver’s instrument panel is a bright and clear 7.0-inch electronic display. Heated power-folding wing mirrors, LED headlights and SUV-style plastic body cladding are also standard-issue on the flagship ek X EV, as are 15-inch alloy wheels.

Single-zone climate control with heated front seats and a heated steering wheel are standard on the P-spec, and a self-parking function, top-down camera view, adaptive cruise control (normal cruise control is standard) and lane-keep assist are available in an optional bundle.

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Cloth upholstery is standard, but an attractive quilted leather/fabric upholstery in light grey can be had for a little extra – and is what our P-spec tester came with.

The base model G-spec is more Spartan by comparison – it doesn’t actually include an infotainment screen as standard, it’s a cost option – but is mechanically identical. By Australian standards, however, it would probably be seen as a favourable option for food delivery operators, but not private owners.

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How do rivals compare on value?

Here’s the thing: there are no rivals in Australia to the ek X EV.

Apart from a used Nissan Leaf, there’s not much in the way of competition in the sub-$45k EV market – at least not right now.

Chinese automakers BYD and GWM’s Ora sub-brand are making noises about launching their own entry-level EVs at a circa-$35K price point later this year, but we’ve yet to see solid confirmation for either.

If Mitsubishi can sneak in under that number, then the ek X EV has a chance of staying relevant – though with just a 20kWh battery offering significantly less energy capacity than BYD’s Dolphin or the Ora Good Cat, Mitsubishi’s compact EV will likely have to rely on keen pricing to fend off incoming Chinese rivals.

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Interior comfort, space and storage

Japan’s specialised kei class of vehicles is a fairly restrictive one. Vehicles in this class must fit within a 3.4-metre by 1.48-metre footprint, which results in an obvious shortfall in cabin space.

That said, with the ek’s axles being pushed right to the very edges of its platform and the mechanical stuff occupying just the slimmest of compartments right behind the front bumper, the vast majority of the ek X EV’s volume is dedicated to passengers (and a modest amount of cargo).

For those who often just drive themselves around, it’s plenty. For two people it’s perfectly adequate, and even four adults can comfortably sit inside thanks to the dinner-chair-like posture that the ek X’s high seat bases and tall roof encourages.

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The seat cushions are pretty flat and low on lateral support, which is the norm for the one-box kei car segment. These are seats designed for easy entry and egress, not for long journeys. Even so, the driving position is a comfortable one, and outward vision through the big glasshouse is excellent.

It’s a surprisingly useful space too. The pleather-upholstered dashboard has an integrated shelf on the passenger side that’s good for perching wallets and phones, and a shin-level shelf at the bottom of the centre stack is perfect for whatever phone is being mirrored on the infotainment touchscreen, as a pair of USB ports are located just above it (one USB-A, one USB-C).

There’s also a twin-compartment glovebox, the upper portion of which pulls out like a kitchen drawer, and deep cup holders are inset into the dashboard and rear door cards.

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Under the front passenger seat you’ll find another pull-out drawer, good for storing a pair of shoes, a box of tissues or other small cargo, and a shopping bag hook is fitted to the side of the centre stack to hang a purse or takeaway bag on.

A boot volume figure is hard to pin down, but the ek X EV’s rear seat can be slid forward on rails to expand the otherwise slim cargo area when required. That was enough for us to be able to tote a large travel bag without dropping a seatback, and the ek X’s load bay becomes fairly cavernous when those 50:50 split seatbacks are lowered.

With a low boot floor and tall roof height – plus the ability to fold the front passenger seat down as well – the tiny ek X is able to carry a respectable volume of cargo if you need it to.

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What is it like to drive?

Kei cars are, by law, the opposite of powerful. The Japanese government mandates a maximum power output for all kei cars of a measly 47kW, and the ek X EV’s power figure from its single electric drive motor is exactly that.

However, the Japanese government says nothing about a torque limit.

With 195Nm at its disposal and a kerb weight of just 1080kg, the ek X EV has plenty of pep in its step. For the cut-and-thrust of Tokyo traffic it’s great, easily zipping to cruising speed without much trouble and chirping its front eco tyres should you give the throttle a little too much enthusiasm.

It can also be mostly driven using just the accelerator, with a one-pedal drive mode available that dials the brake energy recuperation to the max whenever you lift your right foot.

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It’s not the most dynamic thing, but it’s pretty well suited for a dense inner-urban environment and staccato traffic flow.

The steering has a lot of lock to wind on but is also very light, the 9.6-metre turning circle ideal for tight backstreets and compact car parks.

The ek X EV is also a very quiet and calm thing to putt about town in. A bit like an overgrown golf cart? A bit, but we mean that in an endearing way and as a reflection of just how easy this thing is to drive.

It becomes noisier at highway-ish speeds. Our limited time with the ek X EV wasn’t enough to allow us to get properly out of Tokyo, but even on an 80km/h road it’s obvious that wind noise is the enemy of this car’s upright and blocky form.

A similar story emerges from the suspension set-up. Tokyo streets are famously smooth with little to challenge springs and dampers, but there’s enough pitch and roll to clearly hint that the ek X EV isn’t going to be a talented corner carver. Does it need to be? Again, if you’re considering something like this then performance isn’t likely to be a primary consideration.

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How much energy does it use?

What will be a primary consideration is energy efficiency and range – and here we find the biggest hurdles for the ek X EV’s Australian business case.

The official claim is average energy consumption of 12.4kWh/100km, or as low as 10.0kWh/100km depending on test cycle. With most EVs currently on the market delivering real-world consumption figures in the high teens and beyond, the little Mitsubishi’s figures are impressively frugal.

A claimed maximum range of 180km according to WLTC protocols is obviously substantially lower than most EVs, but should be more than sufficient for the inner-urban apartment-dwellers that we’d expect to be attracted to the ek X EV. More range would be nice, but there’s only so much a 20kWh battery pack can give.

The eK X EV offers a claimed driving range of just 180km – but it also has a particular type of commuter in mind, and buyers of the first-generation Leaf were clearly not deterred by a low driving range.

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Except, it appears that the ek X EV can’t even deliver on that. To be fair, our drive of the car was short, encompassing just 30km, but it was also carried out in what should have been ideal conditions for the ek X EV’s efficiency – stop-start, low-speed traffic. Instead, our average energy consumption was 16.25kWh/100km, which would give a maximum range in the region of 123km before the battery ran out of juice.

Some will find that to be okay and others will find that to be unacceptably short-legged, but from our point of view we’re more disappointed that the lightweight ek X EV was so wide of its factory claim. Will it do better in Australian traffic?

We’d have to wait until Mitsubishi Australia commences a local trial, but even if it does, there’s still the issue that its maximum range in ideal conditions would still be considered marginal by a lot of potential customers.

In Japan, there’s both a Type 1 connector (or J-1772) for low-speed charging and a huge CHAdeMO socket for high-speed (and bi-directional) charging. For Australia, a Type 2 CCS port would likely be needed in order to maximise compatibility with existing charging infrastructure.

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How safe is it?

Standard safety equipment in Japan includes auto emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection (but curiously, not necessarily motorcyclists), stability control, traction control, lane departure warning, frontal collision alert, seven airbags (dual front, front-side, curtain and a driver’s knee bag), and front and rear parking sensors.

Whether current ANCAP test protocols would equal the five-star safety rating its Japanese counterpart JNCAP did for the ek X EV late last year, remains unknown.

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Warranty and running costs

While the ek X EV has yet to be confirmed for our market, it would be reasonable to expect it to carry the same 10-year, 200,000km vehicle warranty as the rest of its stablemates.

That said, EV battery warranty periods typically only cover an eight-year term, so that particular component’s aftersales coverage may be split out from the rest of the vehicle accordingly. This, however, is our speculation.

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VERDICT

All too often, those on lower incomes are overlooked in the conversation about technological advancement.

New cars in general have become quite expensive, and EVs haven’t yet taken the trajectory that was expected of them. As models begin to proliferate and sales volumes increase, average prices are expected to fall – but we're simply not there yet, and it may be that the only place EVs will ever be 'affordable' is in the used market.

When adjusting for specification and inflation, prices have indeed dropped, but by nowhere near the amount needed to put an all-electric product within reach of younger people, pensioners and other low-income demographics.

Although the i-MiEV was too far ahead of its time and too expensive for what it offered (a $1740 monthly lease with no opportunity to purchase), there now exists an opportunity for Mitsubishi to offer a fairly humble and comparatively affordable EV with the ek X – something that could get those who are struggling to save for a Model 3 or even an Atto 3 into the world of all-electric motoring far sooner.

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Its range is obviously going to be a handicap, but one that could be sidestepped if Mitsubishi makes the right kind of pitch to the right kind of buyer.

The ek X EV clearly isn’t going to be for everyone. But, for some of us – maybe enough of us to help Mitsubishi Australia with a decision – it could make the difference between joining the march toward the future sooner, or remaining chained to the old ways for a while longer. Assuming, of course, that any EV suits your current needs.

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