Mitsubishi finalises mass-market e-car production plans
i-MiEV spec, speed, range, price announced
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Leccy Tech Today is World Environment Day, so what better time for Mitsubishi to announce final production plans for its i-MiEV mass-market e-car.
Mitsubishi's i-MiEV: the first true mass-market leccy car?
And the announcement’s definitely worth celebrating, because the i-MiEV’s arguably the first mass-market leccy car. Yes, we know the Tesla Roadster is already available - but it costs more than a small house and only seats two.
Deliveries to corporate customers will start next month in Japan, but under a lease scheme. The country’s private buyers will be able to place advance orders next month too, with delivery scheduled to start in April 2010.
The price? ¥4.6m (£29,300/$47,700/€33,600) including taxes.
Limited deliveries will also take place in other right-hand drive markets - including the UK - later this year. Come 2010, the EV will be also be available as a left-hand drive and appear with Peugeot branding.
The single-speed transmission has three drive-style settings
Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV’s powered by a 330V 16kWh lithium-ion battery and a 47kW (63bhp) motor, which is connected to the rear wheels.
It features single-speed transmission with three selector positions: 'D' for maximising performance, 'Eco' for extended range and battery life and 'B' for regenerative braking.
During typical suburban Japanese driving, Mitsubishi reckons a fully charged i-MiEV will get you 160km (100 miles). It also has two power sockets: one for domestic and another for quicker charges.
A quick 80 per cent charge's possible in 30 minutes
When connected to a 200V, 15A socket the i-MiEV will re-charge in seven hours. But hook it into a three-phase, 50kW socket and the battery will charge to 80 per cent capacity in just 30 minutes, the company claimed.
Customers will have eight colour schemes to choose from, each of which will complement the LED front headlamps – apparently a first on a car of this size. A 7in display’s also included.
So hoorah for Mitsubishi, but please now build the Sport Air. Pretty please... ®
COMMENTS
Really £20K extra for the leccy tech?
We have the petrol version of this car and it rocks for around town. Comfortably seats 4 people or two people and bicycle(s), zippy, turning circle like a black cab. However it was only £9K. Hard to imagine that using electric instead of petrol costs £20K extra...
@Tom
Tom, a car is a closed system - you can only get X amount of power from a full tank of petrol or a full charge of a battery. Drive any car with the air con, lights, ICE, seat massagers, wipers, etc etc etc on and you will use more power. And I am struggling to see how the 3rd law applies - 1st yes, but 3rd?
@Robert - I suspect that's P for Power not Petrol! That's why there is a plug coming out of the side of the gas pump/charge post thing-a-me-jig in the graphic.
@Tony Smith
So then, you're saying that the 3rd law of thermodynamics has been repealed for electric cars?
Granted, it's been some years now since I had my primary school physics intro, but I hadn't seen any news about that elsewhere. And I'd imagine the U.S. Patent Office would have to revise the one sane rule they have: you know, the one about you can't apply for a patent on a perpetual energy machine.
Or to simplify it a bit for you, petrol cars can generate battery energy because they convert some of the chemical energy of the petrol into the electrical for the ignition and other car electronics. But in the electric car, all of the energy has to come from the battery, including the energy that might be derived by running an alternator from the wheels. You can recover some of the energy that might be lost to breaking by converting it to electrical, but there will be significant losses for friction in your proposed solution.
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