Mitsubishi have very cleverly slipped in to the electric car market with their skilfully put together Mitsubishi i-MiEV. They have also managed to get in quick enough to become Australia’s first all-electric car.

With the use of new advanced technology in lithium-ion batteries, Mitsubishi have equipped the small i-MiEV with a modern day power plant that has, of course, zero emissions. Eighty eight battery cells store 16 kW hours of energy, giving the new Mitsubishi i-MiEV approximately 160 kilometres of motoring before recharging is needed. The exact distance between recharging depends on driving style and the use of onboard equipment like air conditioning. Colder days will use more power from the battery cells, so a more realistic distance might be more like 100 kilometres. As this is purely built for the city, you’d find that most people would be happy with the i-MiEV’s 80 to 120 kilometre round trip before needing a top up. I can imagine I would get very used to the low running costs from home, on the outskirts, into the CBD and back.

Safety has been a well thought out part of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV’s complete package. In the event of an accident, the vehicle has a large high-voltage circuit breaker to keep all occupants safe. Mitsubishi have managed to develop a design whereby all the lithium-ion batteries are stored underneath the car’s floor.

Simple to use, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV has been designed to plug into any household power supply socket. Becoming used to a routine of plugging in the vehicle once you arrive home, is as easy as 1,2,3. And it only takes seven hours for the Mitsubishi i-MiEV battery set to be fully charged again from your home’s power supply. You can have eighty percent of the batteries recharged at a quick source power supply in only thirty minutes.

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to travel inside an electric vehicle of any sort, then one thing you will have noticed, fairly early on, is the absence of noise. You’ll appreciate just how quiet the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is as soon as you start the little car up. With 47 kW of power, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV even boasts a top speed of 130 km/h from its electric motor. The drive produced from the electric motor is transferred straight to the wheels via a reduction gear, so the Mitsubishi i-MiEV has no need of a transmission. Reduction gearing makes the power plant highly efficient, and little energy is lost in the process.

As you can expect, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV drives very well, is simple to use and modern in its feel in every respect. The car offers quick acceleration, which is so easy to control, being just a simple one-speed transmission. Room is on the smaller side, however the seats remain comfortable for up to four adults at any one time. One of these will be the driver, of course. Rounded dials and switchgear, quality trim and seat materials, blue background lighting, electric windows, alloy pedals and more, make the small Mitsubishi electric car very appealing on an everyday basis. One thing about the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is that it looks and feels like another quality Mitsubishi vehicle. It isn’t a completely different Jetsons-type motorcar – and I think that’s a good thing, It’s not liable to turn some of its prospective buyers away by being a completely different oddball.

Overall dimensions are small, which makes it an absolute doodle to park in an inner city car park. Kerb weight is a little over 1000 kg.

The current model series includes the:

• Mitsubishi i-MiEV

For any more information on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Mitsubishi dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!

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