The Suzuki Jimny is a little slice of retro-themed coolness and you will soon see it in an EV avatar. Sadly, however, that unique piece of small SUV ingenuity is only set to land in European markets, with off-road-focused Aussies left out in the cold. Admittedly, the Jimny has faced its share of problems, namely the tightening of emission rules in Europe, but the EV version presents the perfect solution. The current Jimny is sold in commercial spec there and an all-electric Jimny will open doors to a new segment of buyers while increasing its appeal.
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The Jimny EV is just one of the many electric cars planned by Suzuki for the coming years as the brand looks beyond hybrids, introducing new releases based on a bespoke electric architecture. There are currently five EVs in development, with the desirable Jimny EV set to debut sometime in 2025. We do expect the electric Jimny to maintain the silhouette of the current car, although modern design language would suggest it would be garnished with enough EV-specific styling cues to make it stand out. The grille of the Jimny would be replaced with a cover alongside aero-enhancing wheels, while the wheel cover would also sport a different design.
While the current petrol Jimny gets a 1.5l engine which can only be described as ‘adequate’, the electric version will obviously provide a lot more power while also enabling it to perform better off-road with instant torque. While stricter emissions rules favour EVs in Europe, other markets will continue to get a mix of hybrid and petrol. It seems the Jimny EV has been earmarked for Europe for now but the appeal of an EV version of the Jimny holds promise for other markets too.
That said, don’t expect the Jimny EV to be cheap. It would mostly be double in terms of pricing in comparison to the petrol version but for European markets, it won’t matter since the novelty value is enough for this little off-roader to carve a niche for itself. However, high prices or not, the Jimny EV looks mighty desirable to us and we’d wish it lands up on our shores as well. Fingers crossed for this one!