Suzuki’s first electric passenger kei car can cost about $9,800 in Japan after a subsidy

Japanese buyers who file for the national subsidy can drive home in Suzuki’s e SKY for about ¥1,552,000, roughly $9,800. That is the entry A grade, listed at ¥2,120,000 with ¥568,000 taken off, and it is the cheapest way into Suzuki’s first passenger kei EV when sales open on Nov. 16.

Suzuki announced the car on Oct. 6 and set a target of 1,000 units a month, aimed first at people who already own a Suzuki kei car. The company is positioning the e SKY as a car for drivers switching from gasoline models, under a development concept it calls “Easy to Switch.”

From ¥2,120,000 to ¥1,552,000 on one subsidy

Three grades differ only in equipment, since all share the same battery and range. Motor Fan lists the A grade at ¥2,120,000, the G at ¥2,390,000 and the X at ¥2,790,000, all tax included, and notes that the A grade is made to order. The same outlet’s subsidy breakdown puts the national clean-energy vehicle subsidy at ¥568,000 for filings from Oct. 6 through Dec. 31, 2026, with applications closing early if the budget cap is reached and the amount from January 2027 subject to change.

The arithmetic gives ¥1,552,000 for the A grade, ¥1,822,000 for the G and ¥2,222,000 for the X. The dollar figure depends on the exchange rate. The Federal Reserve’s H.10 release shows 157.81 yen to the dollar on Oct. 2, 2026, which turns ¥1,552,000 into about $9,834, rounded here to $9,800. At the same rate the G grade lands near $11,500 and the X near $14,100. Carscoops used the same $9,800 conversion for the A grade. Response’s Oct. 7 coverage rounds the subsidy to ¥580,000 in its text, a looser figure than the ¥568,000 that Motor Fan and Mynavi give, and the lower number is the one used throughout this story.

Local subsidies in Tokyo go further

Motor Fan also works out Tokyo’s position. The city’s zero-emission-vehicle program pays ¥500,000 as a base, a ¥250,000 add-on from the maker and, on the X grade only, ¥100,000 for the AC 100-volt, 1,500-watt outlet. Stacked on the national payment, the A grade falls to ¥802,000, the G to ¥1,072,000 and the X to ¥1,372,000, assuming Tokyo’s current rules apply as written. Elsewhere, the effective price is the national-only figure unless a prefecture runs its own scheme.

Yoshitake Tamakoshi, the Suzuki managing director in charge of domestic sales, said, in the phrase Response reports, that the company “worked very hard” on the price, and that it was set after all departments agreed rather than by sales alone. President Toshihiro Suzuki said the length of the subsidy matters and that balance is needed, since Suzuki must keep selling gasoline models alongside electric ones.

A 26-kWh LFP pack rated for 310 km

The battery is a 26-kWh lithium iron phosphate pack mounted under the floor, rated at 310 km (about 193 miles) on Japan’s WLTC cycle. Mynavi reports consumption of 97 Wh/km and a motor rated at 47 kW (64 PS) with 133 Nm of torque, the output ceiling for a kei car. Charging runs at 3 or 6 kW on AC and up to 50 kW on DC, and Motor Fan says a five-minute fast charge adds about 50 km. Equipment includes a 10.1-inch display audio screen, which Suzuki describes as a first for its domestic cars, an electric brake booster that Response lists as a first for a Suzuki kei car, and nine body colors in 11 combinations, among them the new Immersion Blue Pearl Metallic.

The body is a high-roof wagon 3,395 mm long, 1,475 mm wide and 1,625 mm tall, with a 2,460-mm wheelbase, a 1,030-kg curb weight and a 4.4-m turning radius. Mynavi quotes President Suzuki saying the company “focused on electricity efficiency” so owners worry less about running out of range. The first-ever claim has a limit. Suzuki’s own wording is that the e SKY is its first kei passenger EV, and Car Watch’s preview lists the light-commercial e Every among Suzuki’s existing battery models. Carscoops adds that Europe and the UK get the car from 2027, where it will join the eVitara.

For the A grade in Tokyo, ¥802,000 at that same Oct. 2 rate is about $5,080, the lowest effective price in Motor Fan’s table, and it is the one number in this story that depends on both a city program and a made-to-order grade. The national ¥568,000, by contrast, applies to filings only until Dec. 31, 2026, unless the budget cap ends it sooner.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

More from Morning Overview