Mini Vehicles or Kei cars from Japan
Kei Cars fo sale UK Rgistered direct from Japan to UK.- 24th November 2018
- Blog
- Posted by algysadm
- 4 Comments
The ‘Mini’ Car or Kei car as it is correctly called in Japan category originated in the Post war era of the Second World War, when most of the Japanese public could not afford a full sized vehicle, yet many had enough money to purchase a motorbike. So to promote the growth of the car industry, the kei car category was introduced by the Government. The category was originally limited to a tiny 150 cc then in 1949, dimensions 
and engine size limitations were slowly expanded to tempt more car manufacturers to produce the kei cars. In 1955 the engine size was increased to 360 cc as the upper limit, and so the Kei class began taking off, with cars from Suzuki and Subaru 360, saw the first mass produced kei car able to fill people’s need for basic transportation. Over the following years and decades subsequent goervments introduced increased engine sizes and body dimensions under increasing manufacturer’s demnds and pressures.
In March 1990, new standards were again introduced. An extra 110 cc was added and now allowed in a slightly larger (100-mm longer) bodyshell. These changes came at a time when the Japanese economy was booming, so all manufacturers quickly developed new models to suit.
The regulations on horsepower has been increased due to the fitment of turbochargers to these little engines during the late 1980s to cope with the lack of horsepower. The installation of turbochargers also had a benefit of increased fuel efficiency, which also reducd tailpipe emissions, which are also taxed in Japan.So it’s a win-win with the installation of turbos making the vehicles very fast and nippy relative to their size.
In 2009 Electric kei were introduced by Mitsubishi Motors. The car in Japan is called the i-MiEV, it uses a 63-hp permanent-magnet motor. Current models charge overnight in 14 hours from home mains, or in 30 minutes from quick-charging petrol stations. The range is between 62 miles and 99 miles. Algys Autos can of course import any of these little Kei Cars as passenger vehicles or even commercial little flat bed and carry vans via the Import Scheme. Algys Autos actually have been using a Daihatsu Kei Commercial Van for many years, the car cost almost nothing to run on fueal and servicing is so simple, it has not cost us anything on repairs and is a tremendous advertising and promotional vehicle!
4 Comments
Hi, I am hoping in the future I can import a Subaru R1 over to England but I had some questions first if you know the answers.
1. Is the R1 safe for English roads and motorway use?
2. Is the R1 reliable as a first car as i have heard they have engine troubles
3. Can the R1 comfortably fit 4 people?
Hi Seth,
Thanks for the enquiry. The R1 is a Subaru Kei Car with 660cc engine. The chassis prefix is RJ1 & RJ2. 2 or 4 wheel drive. We have not heard of any adverse reports of engine or similar problems with this model. As regards a car for 1st use, excellent, small nippy and of course economical. It is only 660cc engine so prolonged higher speed driving is not what it is designed for, that is not to say you could drive it occasionally at a higher speed of course, but not prolonged constant high speed usage. The R1 does have 4x seats but it is a small car so 4x average sized people is fine – but again not for frequent long journeys, its a small car. ideally for a couple or a couple with young children or average adults but on shorter journeys is fine. Again consider the size of car and engine, it is small so dont expect to load it up with 4x adults and go flat out down a motorway……the engine wont thanks you. Hope that helps a little for you.
Hello I am thinking to import Japanese kei
Box car.
I had looked market in UK, but I couldn’t find
Any kei cars on the market.
Is these cars restricted to import in UK??
And looked for imported car insurance companies as well, they said that there is no kei cars name in the date base.
Can I buy insurance in UK?
Please give me ideas, can you import kei
Box cars like suzuki ebrey, Honda n box etc..?
Thank you
Hi,
thanks for the question. Kei cars are quite unknown within the UK, they are of course as you will know limited to 670cc for tax reasons in Japan. they are excellent little cars and most manufactures make them in Japan of various models, even tipper trucks and vans. We do get enquiries for them from UK customers and then source via our Japan garages and import / register here in the UK. You will get insurance but of course they are not on the databases so you would need to speck with a person / broker as opposed to a website page. We can import and supply for you, better to email us from our Contacts page, we shall do our best for you. Thanks Algys Autos.