Kei Cars

Here’s a fun fact: Fiat's Topolino doesn’t even certify as a proper car, but rather an electric “quadricycle.” How will the under-100-inch-long compact electric runabout fare in a market that's dominated by big performance cars and heavy trucks?

At this year's Japan Mobility Show, the legendary little Mitsubishi Delica van cedes the stage (for a moment, anyway) to an even cooler Mitsubishi camping rig: a futuristic concept combo that expands into a multi-room base camp.

Honda took to the track back in July, with an electric four-door kei car called the Super EV. Now it looks like the concept has gone into production, as the company launches the compact N-One e: city car on its home turf.

Telo's upcoming compact electric truck has a whopping 500 hp – enough to haul a full-size bed full of cargo. That kind of power will inevitably corrupt you into dreaming about drifting in this thing, and soon, you'll be able to do just that.

Is there any vehicle more adorable than a sub-4-m Japanese micro-camper van? Maybe a next-gen micro-camper built into a versatile van platform that also works as a commercial goods-hauler and mobile pop-up shop? That's the Toyota Kayoibako.

At the dawn of the current EV revolution, Mitsubishi launched a highway-capable, mass-produced five-door hatchback called the i-MiEV, followed by an electric version of its veteran microvan. Now that Minicab-MiEV is being updated for 2024.

HW Electro has revealed a new light electric concept called the Puzzle, a boxy minivan designed with disaster relief in mind and sporting external power outlets, USB ports, a crowbar and a first aid kit.

One the world's most beloved mini-camper van nameplates has gone full micro. The Mitsubishi Delica has spawned the Delica Mini kei van. It shouldn't be long before Japan's camper conversion industry turns it into an amazingly efficient micro-camper.

With its small size and 4WD, the Mitsubishi Delica is a beloved favorite for adventure van lifers. The new Mitsubishi Delica Mini shrinks that adventurous spirit down even more, to kei size. It promises to make an amazing micro-camper once it's here.

Japanese kei camper specialists continue to amaze us by building homes into the tiniest vans. Oka Motors has taken it to another level with the Miniature Cruise Cozy, a micro-camper that transforms to transport, feed, clean and sleep up to three people.

Quite different from other camper vans, even amongs the quirky camping cars of Japan, the Quokka is a delivery van outside, a transforming log cabin inside. The tiny RV surrounds campers in aromatic Japanese cypress and readily adapts to their needs.

As fun as American and European small camper vans are, no one does a proper micro-camper quite like Asia. The latest to grab our attention, the Honda N-Van solo kei camper is about as simple and tiny as possible while still delivering mobile shelter.