Nissan has blossomed its third electric car for Japan: the tiny, city-focused Sakura, designed to fit into the country’s ‘kei’ car class.
The 2022 Nissan Sakura has been revealed for the Japanese market, as the brand’s smallest electric car yet.
Developed alongside a similar model from the Mitsubishi brand, Nissan’s new Sakura is designed to slot into Japan’s ‘kei’ car class, which offers tax and insurance benefits for vehicles which conform to strict size and power output restrictions.
Measuring 3395mm long, 1475mm wide and 1655mm tall, with a 2495mm wheelbase, the Sakura – named after Japan’s native cherry blossom trees – is 200mm shorter in overall length and 120mm narrower than an Australian-market Kia Picanto, but 170mm taller to maximise interior space.
Within its compact footprint, it manages to fit in five doors and a moderate front overhang – so it won’t fit into the same parking spaces as a 2500mm-long, two-seat early 2000s Smart car.
Heavy styling inspiration is drawn from Nissan’s larger Ariya mid-size electric SUV, with squashed versions of its closed-off front fascia, headlights and tail-lights, and paint colours.
The four-spoke wheels are said to be inspired by “Japanese mizuhiki decorative knots … commonly found on gift envelopes and packages”.
Inside, the Sakura continues to imitate its bigger brother with a similar ‘floating’ dashboard and console design, home to a 7.0-inch digital instrument display and a 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen, with satellite navigation, wireless/wired Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto.
The fabric-trimmed seats “have a comfortable sofa design” and join a leather steering wheel and copper trim as part of one of three colour combinations: black, beige and ‘blue grey’.
Other interior highlights include cup holders designed to “prevent [drink] wobbling”, an electronic gear selector, and a two-spoke steering wheel borrowed from the Ariya.
Powering the Sakura is a single electric motor (likely on the front axle) developing 47kW and 195Nm – the former the limit for kei cars since 1990 – connected to a 20kWh battery good for a top speed of up to 130km/h.
Range is quoted at up to 180km – albeit according to ultra-lenient Japanese WLTC testing. The Leaf electric hatch quotes 322km on the same protocols, while a base Tesla Model 3 quotes 565km – compared to 270km and 491km respectively according to stricter European WLTP testing.
The car is capable of a “quick charge” in 40 minutes (from the battery warning light to 80 per cent charge), while a “standard charge” will take eight hours.
Eco, Standard and Sport drive modes are available, along with a one-pedal mode, and vehicle-to-home charging (allowing the car to provide “a day’s worth of electricity to a home” in emergencies”).
The turning radius is quoted to be 4.8 metres (9.6m circle) – 10cm greater than a Kia Picanto, but 60cm smaller than a Nissan Leaf.
Nissan’s ProPilot semi-autonomous driving system is available in the Sakura, along with a ProPilot Park system which controls steering, accelerating, braking, gear selection and the parking brake for fully-automatic parking.
The 2022 Nissan Sakura will go on sale in Japan by the end of September, priced from 2.33 million yen before government EV subsidies – or just under $AU26,000.
An Australian launch is highly unlikely, given the Sakura’s size, power output, range and driving positioning are more suited to the streets of Tokyo than those of Toorak or Toowoomba.
The Nissan Sakura will be twinned with a variant sold by Mitsubishi, known as the eK X EV (above), with unique styling elements but identical mechanicals and technology.
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