Cleantechnica Unique: Interview with MiBot Creator Kusunoki-san

Help CleanTechnica’s work via a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

In July, CleanTechnica despatched out emails to Mibot creator and YouTuber-turned-CEO Kazunari Kusunoki, who is predicated in Hiroshima. It’s understandably troublesome to get time with him, being the hands-on man for the R&D and testing of the MiBot. Nevertheless, we ultimately performed an interview through his communications staff, along with his replies initially in Japanese and translated by their worldwide enterprise improvement staff lead, Santi Ferrari.

Simply as a recap, the MiBot is an ultra-compact, single-seat electrical automobile constructed on Kusunoki’s perception that typical vehicles are “just too large” for Japan’s slender streets and the fact of solo commuting. Its disruptive market influence stems instantly from its aggressive pricing of roughly $7,000 USD (¥1 million), which is about half the price of Japan’s best-selling EV, the Nissan Sakura.

This mixture of practicality and affordability resonated strongly, ensuing within the MiBot securing over 3,300 pre-orders — a determine that famously surpassed the roughly 2,000 complete EVs that automotive large Toyota bought in Japan throughout all of 2024.

Beneath is the interview with Kusunoki-san.

Q. What was the most important problem you confronted in bringing the MiBot from concept to a working prototype, particularly and not using a conventional engineering background your self?

A. The largest problem was discovering staff members and companions who resonated with the imaginative and prescient and spirit of the mission and have been keen to hitch us on the journey. Since none of our founding members had prior expertise in automobile improvement, forming partnerships with extremely expert people and firms was important to bringing the MiBot idea into actuality.

We overtly shared our ideas and the event course of behind MiBot on YouTube. Progressively, individuals who resonated with our imaginative and prescient began to seem, and we gained extra collaborators. By way of this accumulation, we’ve been capable of carry the concept of MiBot to life.

Q. The MiBot is completely fitted to Japan’s slender streets and particular wants. Do you see potential for comparable small, area of interest EVs in different nations with comparable city environments?

A. Sure, we strongly imagine there may be nice potential. There are a lot of city areas all over the world with environments just like these wherein MiBot excels. Moreover, world traits akin to rising environmental consciousness, the rise of shared mobility, and elevated demand for last-mile transportation all level to a shared societal want for compact EVs.Nevertheless, increasing to every nation would require cautious analysis into native site visitors legal guidelines and infrastructure. We imagine localization that addresses every area’s distinctive challenges and laws shall be important.

Q. What function do you imagine clear communication (like your YouTube movies) performs in constructing belief and attracting prospects for a brand new automotive model like KG Motors?

A. We see clear communication as the inspiration for constructing belief.With out the lengthy historical past or confirmed monitor file of main automakers, it’s very important for purchasers to really feel safe when pre-ordering a MiBot — however that’s not straightforward. That’s why we determined to focus much less on product specs and extra on actually sharing “who’s constructing this automotive, why, and the way.” We imagine this is step one in incomes belief.

In follow, we’ve shared the real-time improvement and trial-and-error means of MiBot on YouTube. This wasn’t simply advertising — it was additionally a method to entice collaborators who share our ardour. By encouraging prospects to really feel like they’re “co-developing” the automobile with us, MiBot turns into greater than only a product; it turns into a mission they will emotionally join with.

We additionally actively monitor suggestions and feedback on social media and use that major enter to regulate our product improvement and advertising methods. This alignment between person expectations and our useful resource allocation helps us develop extra effectively.

Q. Past the present MiBot mannequin, do you’ve gotten plans for different automobile varieties or future improvements that handle particular mobility challenges in Japan or globally?

A. Sure, we’re planning to develop MiBot internationally sooner or later.We’ve already begun researching transportation challenges, infrastructure, and laws in different nations, and we’re exploring fashions optimized for various areas. Particularly in cities throughout Europe and components of Asia — the place roads are slender and short-distance journey is frequent, identical to in Japan — we imagine ultra-compact automobiles like MiBot will be very efficient.

That mentioned, we don’t intend to easily export the present MiBot. As a substitute, we intention to supply localized variations tailor-made to the particular wants and authorized frameworks of every nation or metropolis.

Q. With the spectacular variety of pre-orders, what’s the greatest logistical or manufacturing problem for KG Motors as you scale up manufacturing?

A. As manufacturing expands, the 2 principal challenges KG Motors faces are “optimizing transportation prices” and “guaranteeing constant high quality.”

From a logistics standpoint, we have to set up a cheap and environment friendly transport scheme that allows steady, large-scale supply of a uniquely sized automobile like MiBot throughout Japan.

On the manufacturing aspect, elevated quantity can result in high quality variations. Whereas handcrafting was manageable throughout low-volume manufacturing, we now want to make sure constant high quality in a mass-production setup. To attain this, we plan to automate components of the meeting course of and eradicate variability attributable to guide work, thereby constructing a system that maintains uniform high quality.