Longer, larger, the U.S. version of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is set for an autumn 2011 launch.
Barely a week before its official debut at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, Mitsubishi is giving us a good look at its new battery car, the 2012 i-MiEV.
The shots of this production-ready 5-door reveal a battery-electric vehicle that is larger in virtually every dimension than the Mitsubishi i-MiEV available in the Japanese market. The low-slung nose, meanwhile, shows that the Japanese company took advantage of the way an electric vehicle operates to complete shift design directions, since they no longer have to design around a big internal combustion vehicle under the hood.
Compared to the Mitsubishi i-MiEV designed for Japan, the U.S. version will be 11.2 inches longer, 4.3 inches wider and 0.2 inches taller. The front and rear bumpers eat up some of that extra length, as they have now been modified to meet American crash regulations.
The pictures, seen here, suggest that much of the added size, however, has gone into a significantly roomier cabin – and a much better-appointed one, as well, with a subtle two-tone interior and an improved console compared to the earlier i-MiEV concept.
The U.S. version of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV features a reasonably roomy and well-appointed interior.
Expected to be priced at or just under $30,000 – and in the low $20,000 range after the $7,500 U.S. tax credit – the Mitsubishi i-MiEV will be most directly targeted against the Nissan Leaf, which will start rolling into showrooms in the coming weeks. But by the time it hits the U.S. market, in autumn 2011, industry analysts expect a veritable explosion of battery cars, from the Ford Focus Electric to the Toyota RAV4-EV.
The challenge for makers like Mitsubishi will be to convince skeptical buyers that the limitations in performance and range, as well as the initial price premium, can be more than made up for with lower operating costs. For the typical U.S. driver, the 2012 Mitsubishi battery car will run about 2 cents per mile for electricity, less than 20% of what a comparably-sized passenger car would cost at $3 a gallon.
But range anxiety will prove a challenge for all battery car makers to overcome, industry analysts warn. And unless Mitsubishi plans a surprise for the Los Angeles Motor Show news conference it could have some challenges — even going up against the likes of the Leaf. Nissan’s BEV gets approximately 100 miles per charge. The Japanese version of i-MiEV is rated at somewhere around 60 miles — but with the longer body there is room for a larger lithium-ion battery pack, which means Mitsubishi could also be boosting figure as well for the battery car’s Stateside version.
In Japanese trim, i-MiEV features a 63 horsepower electric motor, rated at 133 lb-ft of torque. As with most electric vehicles, that means a peppy take-off, but sluggish acceleration above about 30 mph. Top speed, in the home market version, is 80 mph.
With U.S. fuel prices again on the rise, Mitsubishi may be able to generate some enthusiasm in this market. The maker is clearly counting on foreign sales to boost demand for the i-MiEV. Sales are projected to hit 9,000 for the current fiscal year, which ends next March 31, and then 15,000 in 2011. By 2013, once global markets are established, the maker is aiming for volumes of 40,000 annually.
That’s a fraction of what Nissan is going for, of course. That Japanese maker and its French partner, Renault, are hoping to hit sales of 550,000 for their various BEV models, including Leaf, by mid-decade.
But Mitsubishi could revise its numbers upwards thanks to some creative marketing plans. In Japan, it has just inked a deal with electronics retailer Bic Camera, which may eventually sell i-MiEV alongside other household goods.
“To make sure this new category of cars spreads in the market, we need to go beyond the boundaries of our industry,” said Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko during a news conference at Bic Camera’s main store near in Tokyo’s Ginza district.