2024 Mitsubishi EK X review: First Aussie drive of the cuddly kei car that could become Australia’s cheapest EV

Mitsubishi’s impossibly cute and cuddly “kei” car (it’s Japanese for “as small as a Tamagotchi’s testicle”), the all electric EK X, could become the cheapest EV on Australian roads if the company’s local arm succeeds in its mission to put it on sale here for “between $30,000 and $35,000”.

EV Central was asked to join Mitsubishi for an evaluation drive of an EK X in Sydney and to give our feedback on whether it would work in Australia, despite a likely three-star safety rating and a range of just 180km.

2024 Mitsubishi EK X price and equipment

Honestly, there’s not much to say about price and equipment apart from Mitsubishi’s very appealing $30,000 estimate.

As for equipment? Well, the basics are covered but not that much more obviously. And more than likely the next generation EK X is the one that would come to Australia if, indeed, it did get the green light.

So let’s turn to Mitsubishi Australia’s rationale for even considering the EK X in the first place.

Mitsubishi’s sudden interest in bringing the EK X down under is driven, at least in large part, by our impending new emissions laws, and a need for it to offer some zero-emission vehicles next to the big SUVs and utes in its local showrooms.

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More than on one in three cars sold in Japan are what’s defined as “kei” cars, which are cheaper to buy, register and insure. Kei cars have to fit strict guidelines, meaning they must be no more than 3.4 m long, 1.48 m wide and and 2m high, and are also restricted on power (a tiddling 47kW maximum).

On the one hand, a Japanese-engineered EV that could undercut every other electric vehicle on the market makes perfect sense, but on the other, the Mitsubishi EK X is no chance at all of getting a five-star safety rating in this country.

Mitsubishi’s Australian CEO Shaun Westcott doesn’t think this should be an impassable problem. “The reality is that the car meets Japanese safety regulations. The reality is that it does not meet ANCAP five star, and will not meet ANCAP five star. We’d probably get three stars,” he admits.

“The problem that we have in Australia is that there is a mentality or psychology or social norm or whatever you want to call it that goes ‘it’s five star or nothing. If it’s not five star, don’t buy it’.

“What I’ve done is that we brought that car to Australia to take the pulse, because ultimately the consumer decides. 

“I’m a global citizen, I’ve lived in various countries around the world where four-star is good safety and three-star is adequate safety, particularly for a small city car that doesn’t do more than 60 kilometres an hour, and 50 kilometres, in some places. One that never gets out of the city. A range of 180km, intended to be driven for a week in a city, one charge a week.”

And therein lies another issue, the fact that the EK X has a claimed range of 180km, so 150km in the real world, but the fact is that it is plenty enough range for a small, city-only shopping runabout like this. It’s just that most Australians haven’t got their heads around that idea yet, because most haven’t lived with an EV yet, and even if you point out that most of us drive less than 30km a day, meaning you’d only need to charge it once or twice a week, it just doesn’t sink in.

And that’s why Oliver Mann, Mitsubishi Australia’s General Manager Product Strategy, and “a real lover of miniaturisation”, who joined us for our test drive, and to pick our brains, is looking to the future.

“What we need to do is think about what the marketplace is going to be like down the line, in 2030 and 2035, when there is much more acceptance of EVs, and hopefully of smaller cars like this as well,” Mann said.

“You have to remember that tastes change. Everyone wants big utes these days, or SUVs, but just a decade ago smaller cars like the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 were in the top-three sellers. And Australia also has a history of enjoying really small cars, remember the Daihatsus, the Mighty Boys, and even our own Mirage.

“And the fact is that selling a car like this, a small EV with zero emissions, would help our overall CO2 figures and help us to achieve our sales targets for Mitsubishi Triton.”

Under the New Vehicle Emission Standards, companies wanting to sell vehicles in Australia have to pay penalties once the CO2 emissions of their total vehicle fleet passes a certain point. As a company that sells utes and SUVs – albeit some of them PHEVs with lower emission numbers – Mitsubishi Australia needs to find some vehicles to sell that have zero emissions to help them avoid expensive fines.

2024 Mitsubishi EK X: What we think

The Mitsubishi EK X makes you smile when you look at it – and makes you produce involuntary coo-ing sounds (I even had an urge to pat it) – but also makes you grin at just how easy it is to park and how much fun it is to drive, particularly in tight inner suburban streets.

While the EK X was fun and frisky to drive, it wasn’t exactly bursting with power – although the typical torque punch (195Nm, a lot more than its 47kW)  of an EV helps. I managed to get to 110km/h on a freeway and it didn’t feel overly stressed by that, nor did any of the admittedly quite thin feeling doors blow off, so that’s a bonus.

The ride quality, on tiny 15-inch wheels, was also quite good, but what blew me away the most was just how Tardis-lite this kei car is. Head room is more than adequate, the front bench seat doesn’t feel uncomfortable at all, even with a human next to you, and the leg room in the rear, which can be adjusted depending on how much boot you’re willing to sacrifice, is genuinely astonishing. 

2024 Mitsubishi EK X: Verdict

I’d be exceedingly happy to find an Uber driver pulling up to get me in a Mitsubishi EK X. In fact, it would make me exceedingly happy just to look at one every day.

SCORE: 4/5.

2024 Mitsubishi EK X specifications:

Price: $30,000 (est)

Basics: EV, five doors, kei car

Range: 124km (WLTC)

Battery capacity: 20kWh

Battery warranty: N/A

Energy consumption: 14.2kWh per 100km

Motors: 1 front-mounted permanent magnet motor, 47kW/195Nm 

AC Charging: Eight hours – front warning light to 100 per cent

DC Charging: 40 minutes from warning light to 80 per cent

Top speed: 130km/h