How can you find electric cars in Japanese car auctions?
Whatever kinds of cars you are after, Japan’s car auctions are a great place to start -- and that is just as true if you are after electric cars.
Japanese car maker Nissan was one of the first manufacturers to create a genuinely popular people's electric car in the Nissan Leaf. But how can you find electric cars in the Japanese car auctions?
Of course, one way is to simply set the maker and model to the car you want. Another way is by chassis type.
The chassis type is the combination of letters and numbers at the the beginning of the chassis number (VIN number).
Let's think of 2015 Nissan Leaf as an example. The chassis type is AZE0. You can also see the full chassis number, which identifies this particular Nissan Leaf.
You will also notice the emissions code ZAA. All electric cars comply with the zero emissions rule and have either ZAA, ZAB or ZAE as their emissions code. Just be a little careful as the emissions code does not tell you whether the power source is a battery or a fuel cell. However, a good rule of thumb is that battery EVs tend to be ZAA or ZAE, and fuel cell EVs tend to be ZAB.
How to use chassis codes to find electric cars in the auctions
Using chassis codes to find electric cars in the Japanese car auctions is very easy. First of all, you do need to have access to the auctions, so take a look using our 14-day free guest pass you can sign up for in 1 minute here.
Now you are ready, so go ahead and log in and you will see the screen below. Where it says “Chassis”, enter one of the chassis codes for electric cars.
Once you have entered the chassis code, you can then click the search button and all the cars of that chassis type that are available in the upcoming auctions will be displayed.
If you have any questions about how to buy electric cars from Japanese car auctions, please contact us and we will be happy to help.
Chassis Codes For Electric Cars Sold In Japan *
Mitsuoka
Raiku (HA3WLDDB)
Nissan
e-NV200 Wagon (ME0)
Leaf (AZE0, ZE0)
Subaru
Plug-In Stella (RN1) **
Mitsubishi
i-MiEV (HA4W, HA4WLDDB)
Minicab MiEV Truck (U68T)
Minicab MiEV (U68V)
Smart
FourTwo Electric Drive (451390, 451392)
Tesla
Roadster (unknown)
Model S (SL2SA)
Model X (unknown)
BMW
i3 (1Z00)
Volkswagen
e-Up! (AAEAB)
Toyota
eQ (KPJ10)
FCHV (HEU20W) ***
Mirai (JPD10) ***
Suzuki
Every (DA52V, DA62V, DA64V) **
Mazda
Demio EV (DE3FS) **
Honda
FCX (ZC1) ***
FCX Clarity (ZC3) ***
Fit EV (ZA2)
* Latest information update was October 2016.
** Note that this chassis type can also refer to models with internal combustion engines.
*** Note that these are fuel cell-powered EVs, not battery-powered EVs.
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