Look for your choices, pick the best one, then go with it. Pat Riley
All right, as a Tesla owner I feel alone these days in talking about its good points with all the negative news about the unhinged CEO, but I love that quote from basketball legend Pat Riley about choosing your best options, and despite Japan being slow to accept EV’s there are some great options to choose from now from 6 top brands and a couple more are poised to enter the market this year.
As a Model 3 owner, I may be biased but after doing test-drives and research, I still think Tesla may still be one of the best options we have in Japan in 2023. Imagine if Tesla and Toyota had continued the collaboration they started a decade ago to create the all-electric Rav-4- Toyota, and Japan’s market and all its automakers, would be leading the electric car revolution worldwide. But it wasn’t the choice Toyota made and now in Japan, Tesla is still the only all-electric car company. On the horizon, Subaru could be a formidable rival in a few years with its new Made-in-Japan all-electric EV manufacturing facility- it’s great to see more sustainable cars made in Japan.
Why Electric?
If you are still not convinced, here are 3 of the best arguments to choose an all-electric as your next car.
- No emissions is better for planet, people and profits as it creates less air, land and water pollution which improves the quality of our environment- which then improves the quality of our vital resources: air, water and food which then positively impacts the health of animals (including us). A healthy workforce then connects to a stronger economy.
- As the grid includes more renewables, electric cars have less environmental impact than gas-powered cars or hybrid cars — charging from 100% renewable sources of course is ideal, but even the normal grid makeup is better than 100% fossil fuels at the pump.
- It’s the future of transportation- buses, trains, cars and even ferries and airplanes are moving toward all-electric, emissions free vehicles and the charging infrastructure is improving every year.
Electric vehicles have a smaller carbon footprint than gasoline-powered cars, no matter where your electricity comes from. EarthJustice.org
I drive a Model 3 Tesla and have to admit that yes, I am a bit less of a proud owner of the brand these days due to the crazy antics of the company’s CEO. But in Japan, until the Japanese carmakers get into the game, Tesla is still one of the best options we have for a decent range, charging network, after care, driveability and price.
In 2019, I was an early adopter who invested in a Model 3 Tesla after spending a year test-driving the EV’s available in Japan and the market hasn’t developed much since then. Here’s a video about why I chose it in 2019.
The Model 3 was the stand-out in 2019 as the only other full-electric vehicle available in Japan at the time was the Nissan Leaf. The LEAF range was not as good for about the same price (at the time) and once I did the test drives, it was nowhere near the driveability of the Model 3. One other factor was how fast the Leaf used up its charge with AC which the Tesla seems to maintain much better. The Leaf had a shorter range and the battery ran down faster, that was a concern for me which I hope the newer models handle better.
Will Japan Stick to its 2030 Targets limiting sales of gas cars?
Tokyo’s Koike vowed that the metropolis would ban sales of gas cars from 2030 and the national government said it would limit gas sales to 50% as a stepping stone to meet its 2030 targets (and 2050 carbon neutrality). There is skepticism that in these next 7 more years, all car companies in Japan will change to hybrids and EV’s, and other zero-emission vehicles like Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles. What about used cars which are a huge market in Japan? Will Hydrogen fuel cell be ready by then? Hydrogen still has a variety of adoption issues and doesn’t look like we will see in the mainstream in the next ten years.
2023 Electric Vehicles Sales in Japan
So, let’s have at what is actually available now to Japan consumers — let’s look at Japan’s EV market in 2023. It’s actually quite difficult to compare EV’s available in Japan as a lot of the slick marketing makes it look like every car is an environmental hero. Buyers beware and be extra skeptical of the use of E in the name such as “e-power” which on closer inspection are usually hybrids, or plug-in hybrids, which may be more efficient, but do run on fossil fuels and do have emissions.
There is a real push by Japanese carmakers to push hybrids over EV’s which are better than gas cars, but not as good for the people-planet-profits in balance standards of sustainability we are aiming for to pass a decent quality of life on to future generations.
The Japanese automobile industry has been notoriously slow to adopt the EV trend despite it having a great EV charging network.
To give you an idea of the currently available market of EVs in Japan, I have listed the currently available models by price and range they can travel on a single charge below. Each of the hyperlinks below takes you to the most clear Japanese EV product website pages. Please let me know of any others you may see on the road or find online, thanks.
Only 6 EV Brands Available in Japan at the start of 2023
- Nissan has 5 EV models with range of 350–400km for ¥4~4.7 million
- Honda-E has a range of 250km per charge on sale for ¥4.9 million
- Tesla has three Model 3's available with range from 565km for ¥5.3 million to 689km for ¥6.4 million
- Tesla has two Model Y’s available with range from 507km for ¥5.8 million to a high-performance 595km range for ¥7.5 million
- Subaru’s Solterra has a 480km range on sale for ¥6.8 million
- Jaguar i-Pace has a 438km range on sale from ¥10 million
- BMW-ix has an incredible 650km range for ¥10.75 million
For most buyers, you will be looking beyond the Nissan and Honda models unless you want to use the cars strictly for nearby commutes and errands — these are fantastic, well-priced models for drivers who don’t want to do long drives! If you like to drive an hour or two on weekends across Japan’s excellent toll road systems and bridges to other islands, however, you will want a range above 400km for peace of mind as you travel. My 2019 Model3 is right below 400km range and I have to plan trips carefully- it’s doable but the extra range of the new models would put me more at ease.
Hybrids & Plug-In Hybrids Available in Japan
- Toyota claims this is the year for launch the all-electric 2023 bz4x in US, but it won’t be available in Japan yet, only Hybrids & Plug-in Hybrids.
Toyota has been putting the brakes on electric cars for years and despite claims that it will launch a few EV models, there is only one on the market now and it is only available for lease in some areas of Japan. The comfort zone for Toyota is the hybrid cars, but unfortunately seems to be stuck there.
According to the Japan Times 12/02/2022,
Japanese automakers have recently been criticized by activists and green investors, who slam them for not embracing battery electric vehicles fast enough.
Toyota Motor began selling its first mass-produced fully electric vehicle bZ4X in May as lease-only in its domestic market, charging ¥106,700 per month for the first four years in a 10-year contract. However, it was forced to recall less than two months later due to safety concerns. It began producing again in October.
Just a year into its $38 billion EV plan, Toyota is already considering starting again to better compete in a market growing beyond the automaker’s projections, it was reported in October.
- BMW also has a popular range of plug-in hybrids from ¥7million & up, but the range of the electric side of the car, like many hybrids, is too limited.
The impression of a hybrid (maybe because of the name) is that there is a balance of electric and gas, but in use it is mostly a gas car, the electric motor in a hybrid makes it much more efficient and great fuel economy compared to an all-gas car. The price is also a bit lower than an EV, but that is changing in 2023 as we see the hybrid vs EV price-point on par, some hybrids are even more expensive than EV’s — and will be more expensive in use as well. But the charging infrastructure hesitancy is a barrier to EV adoption in Japan, there’s a familiarity with gas infrastructure still.
Up and Coming EV News for Japan
- Subaru to build an EV only manufacturing facility in Japan by 2027 — the carmaker now uses Toyota’s facilities to make the Solterra EV
- Chinese made BYD is set to enter the market in 2023 with Electric Buses and cars that have a range above 450km for a modest ¥4.5 million
- Toyota is playing catch-up to follow TESLA’s lead according to the Japan Times. It’s not common knowledge but Tesla and Toyota collaborated in 2012 on an EV version of the RAV4 which was unfortunately discontinued in 2014. Toyota had stock in Tesla that it sold in 2017 as it didn’t see much potential for the company, but now Toyota’s Shigeki Terashi is leading a Business Revolution with a new EV development team.
According to this Japan Times article (10/24/2022),
Terashi’s team has been designated a “BR,” or “business revolution,” group within Toyota, a term used for major changes including a revamp of its development and production processes two decades ago.
“What’s driving Mr Terashi’s effort is the EV’s faster-than-anticipated takeoff and rapid-fire adoptions of cutting-edge innovations by Tesla and others,” one of the people said.
Best Choices From What is Available
Like our solar panels, our electric car has been a great investment that has saved our family a lot of money and time over these last 3 years. As my car payments end, it will have the added value of driving a great, zero-emissions car for free. I’m focused on sustainability for my work, travel and life, so an electric car is an important investment that fits with my brand.
In terms of costs, we paid ¥3 million for a 3kwh solar system 10 years ago. Prices and efficiencies have significantly improved since then and you can get twice the system we have for the same price, but even for us it has helped reduced our costs as well as our footprint. The Japanese government had a FIT Feed In Tariff system which paid us back twice as much as we paid for electricity that was sold to our grid. Unfortunately, there is no FIT system for residential solar in Japan, now. But even without it, we were once paying 40,000 yen per month for our winter electric use and now pay 20,000 yen a month despite higher prices as our solar panels supply part of our needs including charging our EV.
The Tesla Model 3 has also improved in efficiency since I bought mine in 2019 for about the same ¥5 million price as I bought it for and drivers now can still qualify for national government rebates of 500,000 yen for EV’s. I bought a home charging system for ¥20,000 yen so when I charge during the day, I know the car is charged with clean, renewable energy. This also saves me a lot of time, energy and hassle as I only have to seek out chargers if doing long trips.
With a fuel efficient kei-car I drove for years before an EV I had to fill up twice a month at least for 4,000 yen each time = 8,000 yen a month or 60,000 yen a year just on fuel and that’s a car that struggled to go faster than 80kph! It would cost significantly more to fill up on gas these days which also have significant environmental and social costs.
Tesla Model 3 Charging Stats 2022
Overall, in 2022, I charged our EV mostly on free solar at home (61%) and used the charging network 39% of the time and spent a total of ¥29,027 according to my charging history. Below are my Tesla app stats for 2022.
Why not give up the car?
I think about giving up on our car a lot, but until we live in a bigger city where we don’t need a car, or there is a sharing network, it makes sense to have our own car. Now we have two drivers sharing the EV and it enhances the quality of our lives and work as well as saves us money and hassle.
We live in Hiroshima, Japan — a medium sized city of a million with decent city-center transportation that is very walkable and cyclable, but less efficient outside of the city center. My sustainable tourism marketing, consulting and educational work requires a lot of travel into smaller cities and rural areas of Japan where public transportation doesn’t exist. Or if it exists, it takes too long, or is too expensive to use.
I appreciate that Tesla has a good presence here in Japan offering a good charging and maintenance network across the country. Overall, it is a high-performance sustainable car I can depend on.
A lot of EV drivers in Japan rely on the elephant charging network, but I haven’t bought a 4,000 yen monthly membership. In the 3 years of using the Tesla, home-charging, using the Tesla charging network, or the AEON mall pay-as-you-go chargers a couple of times has been enough.
Home charging on a sunny day is free and each full charge at a Tesla charger only takes about 40 minutes and costs no more than 1800 yen, so the monthly fee of 4K to use a less convenient charger doesn’t seem worthwhile.
Another good point of buying a Tesla is the resell value is high- a look on the website today shows that I can get a similar price to what I paid if I sold my car now 3 years later!
I hope this article gives you a bit of insight on owning a Tesla in Japan, and if you are already a Tesla owner, I honestly envy your options and would love to hear more about the choices you have where you are. But for us in Japan- it really does seem like Tesla is still one of the best EV choices available for price, range, charging network and resale value.
I have a feeling, though, that things might change if more international brands like Chinese maker BYD enter the market- that will be very exciting to see! The more EV’s the better- bring on those whirrring noises!
