We were writing before about our experience in a test drive of European version of Electric i-Miev. Electric drive experience was amazing: total silence, full torque from the start, car was very responsive and dynamic to the controls. The downside was with its design and feel - that you are in an "electric car" where you have to sacrifice some comfort with its very narrow body and price was definitely on the upside with a tag above 30k euro before states rebates. We were seriously doubting that these cars could have any commercial success at that pricing level.
Today's news bring a second life to Mitsubishi in electric space - wide body give it a look of the real car, but "better" - with electric drive. We hope that interior and gadgets will match at least Nissan Leaf and price of 30k USD for the range of 100 miles on one charge will bring a serious competitor to the Nissan Leaf and Renault Fluence.
"The better is the Lithium Drive - electric drive has a very special feeling. We have test drives with Mitsubishi iMiev, Renault Fluence and Nissan Leaf. All cars have a very high torque and very smooth drive, they are almost totally silent inside at the slow speed. iMiev with its price at 30k euro after rebate will struggle once Renault EVs and Nissan Leaf will hit the road. It is smaller and you have a feeling of a "special electric car", when you have to give something in order to be green. We think that the future is open for the models, which will provide "normal, but better" experience as the comparable CE model, but we could be wrong here - people could opt for urban transport solution as well. Renault is on top of the electric game now, in Europe at least."
"The better is the Lithium Drive - electric drive has a very special feeling. We have test drives with Mitsubishi iMiev, Renault Fluence and Nissan Leaf. All cars have a very high torque and very smooth drive, they are almost totally silent inside at the slow speed. iMiev with its price at 30k euro after rebate will struggle once Renault EVs and Nissan Leaf will hit the road. It is smaller and you have a feeling of a "special electric car", when you have to give something in order to be green. We think that the future is open for the models, which will provide "normal, but better" experience as the comparable CE model, but we could be wrong here - people could opt for urban transport solution as well. Renault is on top of the electric game now, in Europe at least."
AutoBlogGreen:
Are you the U.S. widebody Mitsubishi i-MiEV?
Mitsubishi will be launching its all-electric i-MiEV in the United States next year, though it will be substantially updated from the current model sold overseas. In addition to a slightly wider shape, we can expect better interior amenities with more creature comforts and a higher level of fit and finish.
We've stumbled upon one of Mitsubishi's business plan presentations on the automaker's global corporate site, and therein lies two renderings of what the upgraded U.S.-spec car might look like. It appears that the too-cute bubbly proportions of the current i-MiEV will remain intact, albeit with a much more aggressive front fascia and wider track. As we noted in our review of a JDM-spec i-MiEV, added width would indeed make the diminutive hatch feel more planted on the road, and while we rather like the design of the current car, the revised styling is sure to be more attractive to the vast majority of U.S. shoppers.Look for the production U.S.-spec i-MiEV to debut sometime next year. Mitsubishi is still targeting a price of under $30,000 (not including government incentives) when the car hits dealerships at the end of 2011. Hat tip to Ryan!"
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