Suzuki has taken the wraps off its e-Sky, a new electric city car that is coming to the UK next year as a rival for the Renault Twingo and Honda Super-N.
It is Suzuki’s first electric kei car, meaning it has been developed according to the Japanese class’s strict limits on size. This has resulted in a boxy upright shape, which is designed to maximise occupant space in a minimal footprint.
The car is little changed from the concept version displayed at last year’s Tokyo motor show. The most notable visual revision is a swap from the concept’s futuristic LED lighting to more a chunkier and more conventional set-up.
Technical details remain under wraps until the autumn but, in keeping with kei convention, it is likely to use a single front-mounted motor with an output of 63bhp.
Japanese media has reported a range of 193 miles, which would put the e-Sky ahead of the rival Super-N (128 miles). However, the Super-N is not actually a kei car: it is based on the Honda N-One E but modified to suit export markets such as the UK with a more powerful 94bhp motor and a wider, more aggressive body. It remains to be seen whether Suzuki will follow Honda in modifiying the e-Sky with extra power to suit the preferences of UK buyers.
Regardless, this model will form a crucial part of the brand’s future plans in the UK. Suzuki UK boss David Kateley previously told Autocar that “the A-segment BEV is vitally important” and that he was “very excited about its prospects”.
To that end, pricing is expected to start at below £20,000 – around the same money as the combustion-engined Suzuki Swift supermini.
The e-Sky is due to arrive next spring and its sales will provide the Japanese brand with a useful boost toward its qualification for the UK’s zero-emission vehicle mandate.
It will be followed a year later by Suzuki’s third EV, which, Kateley said, “definitely won’t be an electric Swift”.