Data from Counterpoint reveals that Japan is currently a hostile market towards NEV growth, but that may soon be subject to change.
NEVs are one of the current “it” products, with almost every car company publicizing their versions of them. For those unfamiliar, NEV stands for new energy vehicle, and almost exclusively refers to electric cars. Electric cars aren’t exactly a novel concept, and we’ve had popularized examples in the past as well. The Toyota Prius has been around for literal decades and was even praised as being one of the most energy-efficient vehicles to have ever been made. However, their real pop culture presence is relatively recent and can mostly be (I annoyingly concede) attributed to Elon Musk and his brand of Tesla vehicles.
Tesla essentially pulled an iPhone and convinced the vast population that owning an electric vehicle is not only environmentally healthy but also incredibly stylish and bougie, which I guess is much more important. At any rate, companies have now begun to advertise their EV rides with flair. China has particularly been a healthy market for electric vehicles, with NEV market penetration rounding up to approximately 15%. However, Japan paints a drastically different and surprisingly uncharacteristic picture.
Japan’s a motor vehicle powerhouse; just look at the likes of Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Mazda, and Nissan. You’ve either encountered at least two of these brand names on the street or in a Need For Speed game because there is no middle ground to tread. These are vehicles that sell with a capital S, which I’ll refrain from typing out to not unnecessarily stoke my OCD. However, EV market penetration is down to a near-insignificant 1%, despite all of these companies having relatively popular electric vehicles. However, that’s just talking about the present; the future might prove to be better for NEVs.
The Japanese government has decided to issue subsidies for the creation and maintenance of charging stations solely to support EVs. This can perhaps be attributed to the government wishing to support cleaner vehicles that cause less environmental harm. With such subsidies, buying electric vehicles will become more feasible, and will allow the common commuter to finally stop investing in gas-guzzling engines, and attempt to buy something more economical. Sure, the average EV may be more expensive than a used Suzuki Mehran, but the former will run for longer, has cheaper fuel, and won’t require a pit stop every 2 weeks or so.
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NEVs are one of the current “it” products, with almost every car company publicizing their versions of them. For those unfamiliar, NEV stands for new energy vehicle, and almost exclusively refers to electric cars. Electric cars aren’t exactly a novel concept, and we’ve had popularized examples in the past as well. The Toyota Prius has been around for literal decades and was even praised as being one of the most energy-efficient vehicles to have ever been made. However, their real pop culture presence is relatively recent and can mostly be (I annoyingly concede) attributed to Elon Musk and his brand of Tesla vehicles.
Tesla essentially pulled an iPhone and convinced the vast population that owning an electric vehicle is not only environmentally healthy but also incredibly stylish and bougie, which I guess is much more important. At any rate, companies have now begun to advertise their EV rides with flair. China has particularly been a healthy market for electric vehicles, with NEV market penetration rounding up to approximately 15%. However, Japan paints a drastically different and surprisingly uncharacteristic picture.
Japan’s a motor vehicle powerhouse; just look at the likes of Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Mazda, and Nissan. You’ve either encountered at least two of these brand names on the street or in a Need For Speed game because there is no middle ground to tread. These are vehicles that sell with a capital S, which I’ll refrain from typing out to not unnecessarily stoke my OCD. However, EV market penetration is down to a near-insignificant 1%, despite all of these companies having relatively popular electric vehicles. However, that’s just talking about the present; the future might prove to be better for NEVs.
The Japanese government has decided to issue subsidies for the creation and maintenance of charging stations solely to support EVs. This can perhaps be attributed to the government wishing to support cleaner vehicles that cause less environmental harm. With such subsidies, buying electric vehicles will become more feasible, and will allow the common commuter to finally stop investing in gas-guzzling engines, and attempt to buy something more economical. Sure, the average EV may be more expensive than a used Suzuki Mehran, but the former will run for longer, has cheaper fuel, and won’t require a pit stop every 2 weeks or so.
