Honda Motor said on Wednesday it would begin selling commercial electric microvans.
According to Reuters, the targeted cruising range is 200km (125 miles) and a price around JPY1m (US$7,270).
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Petrol-electric hybrid models remain far more popular in Japan and BEVs accounted for just 1% of the passenger cars sold there last year, Reuters noted.
“We believe that the fastest way to spread the use of electric vehicles in Japan is to first capture the commercial market, especially in the area of light vehicles, which are the mainstay of the Japanese market,” said Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe reportedly said last April.
Reuters said Mitsubishi Motors last month re-launched its commercial truck, Minicab-MiEV, which has a cruising range of 133km (83 miles) and costs about JPY2.4m without a subsidy.
Commercial vehicle coalition CJPT, headed by Toyota, said last July it would develop small electric commercial vans with minivehicle specialists Daihatsu and Suzuki.
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