Japan

Mercedes-Benz Japan launched the electric GLC on Oct. 28 from ¥9.13 million (about $57,800), with up to 642 km of WLTC range, CHAdeMO charging at up to 100 kW and subsidies of up to ¥1.68 million in Tokyo this year.

KDDI and ELYZA have launched ELYZA Robotics, a physical-AI company backed by ¥30 billion (about $190 million) in R&D through fiscal 2030. The goal: more than 1,000 robots working at real job sites, starting with Lawson and other KDDI group companies.

Japan Airlines and Fukuoka International Airport started Level 4 driverless operation of a cargo towing tractor on Oct. 26, the first in western Japan and JAL's third airport after Haneda and Narita. One unit runs now, with four planned by March.

Tesla Japan has officially announced Halloween Mode, and update 2026.38.3.1 has been reaching Japanese cars since Oct. 22: a ghost-costume car, skeleton pedestrians, an owl-hoot turn signal, a roaring lock sound and Set Arrival Energy. It arrived about two weeks after the U.S., not the usual one to two months.

Toyota, Honda and Nissan typically need four to five years for a new model, more than twice China's pace. Now Nissan wants a 2028 SUV in three years and a month, Suzuki aims for about two years by 2030, Honda's 'Triple Half' halves time, cost and workload, and Toyota is cutting parts.

Japan's EV subsidy shrinks from January, Tesla Japan adds V2L, Toyota's Arene gets a guardrail, BYD's Seagull seats five, and NIO's Firefly goes 560 km. The week on EVX News in five stories and one number.

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto is the first person from video games to receive Japan's Order of Culture. At his Kyoto press conference he split creative work into "making" and "doing the work," and said AI will push everyone to think about what making really means.

On Tesla's Q3 call, Ashok Elluswamy said Tesla is building its own AI-based maps fed by fleet data, starting with FSD V15. Japan's owners have been waiting.

Tesla Japan launched the new Model 3 and Model Y on Oct. 23 with V2L power (adapter from January, ¥15,000), a 16-inch screen on the Model 3, a CHAdeMO adapter, and a Charging Support Program worth up to ¥264,000 for the first 5,000 buyers.

Toyota's end-to-end Level 2++ driving system, due from 2028, will be built on its Arene software platform, with a rule-based guardrail that checks the AI's route. Car Watch also rode in the prototype in Europe.