The first two stock Karsan e-JEST battery-electric microbuses in right-hand drive for the UK and Ireland market have arrived with dealership EVM. They are for approvals and testing purposes and one is shortly to be registered for what the supplier says are “more substantive” trials with potential buyers here.
News of the 5.9m Karsan e-JEST coming to the UK and Ireland was announced in 2024, with EVM subsequently confirmed as the dealer for those territories. A prototype example has already been demonstrated after being shown at Euro Bus Expo in November last year.
Pictures of one of the stock examples show it has 10 forward-facing seats – three of which are reached without encountering a step – and two tip-up positions in a wheelchair user bay opposite the central door, where a manual fold-out ramp is located. Seats are finished in a blue moquette complemented by grey flooring and yellow handrails.
Arrival of the first stock examples comes as Karsan has completed the 10,000th example of the JEST family at its factory in Bursa. The model was introduced in 2013 as the diesel JEST, with the JEST+ following in 2017. The battery-electric e-JEST debuted in 2018. The first right-hand drive market for the e-JEST was Japan in 2023.
Speaking about the 10,000-unit milestone, Karsan CEO Okan Baş says that it “clearly reveals how powerful this model is,” adding how the figure “represents the sustainable growth of our company, its solid position in the industry, and its belief in the future.”
Mr BaĹź adds that the JEST family “will continue to renew and develop itself… in order to achieve much greater success.”
The e-JEST uses BMW electrical architecture and an 88kWh battery to give a claimed range of up to 210km. It has a 135kW motor and a touch-screen multimedia screen, with Karsan saying that a four-wheel independent suspension system gives excellent ride quality.
