Mitsubishi Makes It Official, Details i-MIEV Production Start, Pricing, On-Sale Date
By John O'Dell June 4, 2009
Mitsubishi Motors has officially announced the start of production for its i-MIEV electric city car.
The announcement, which comes hours after the news was broken unofficially in a Japanese newspaper, made it clear that Mitsubishi intends to be first to the market with a commercial EV in Japan - it said leases to commercial fleet customers will begin in early July, while rival Subaru has just announced that its electric Stella minicar will go on sale in late July.
Mitsubishi also plans to sell the i-MIEV globally - including in the U.S. - beginning in 2010, while Subaru is sticking with the Japanese market and in far more limited numbers: 170 Stella EVs this year versus 1,400 i-MIEVs.
The automaker said the 4-passenger battery-electric car is "will open the door to the next 100 years of our automobile society," a reference to the company's belief that most cars one day will be electric.
Mitsubishi said the sticker price for the i-MIEV will be 4.6 million yen ($46,700) before various tax breaks that will knock the cost to buyers down to about 3 million yen.
The i-MIEV uses a 47-kilowatt, lithium-ion battery that gives it a range of up to 100 miles. Top speed is 80 miles an hour.
The three-way charging system can use a commercial fast charger to bring a depleted battery to 80 percent of charge in 30 minutes, a 220-volt line for a 7-hour charge or a 100-volt line that recharges the battery in 14 hours.
As part of its official announcement, Mitsubshi provided this detailed overview of the car's power system (click on graphic for expanded view):
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This looks suspiciously like a Nano.
Perhaps its the Nano that looks suspiciously like a Smart ???
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