If you almost bought an electric car this year but held off, you may now be glad that you did – yesterday, Mitsubishi Motors North America announced that the 2014 edition of its i-MiEV will be selling for US$6,130 less than the current model.
The six-grand-plus reduction will bring the total price to $22,995. If you factor in the $7,500 federal tax credit available to EV buyers in the US, that price drops to $15,495.
Full specs on the 2014 i-MiEV aren't yet available, although if it's like the current 2012 model, it will feature a 49kW AC synchronous motor fed by a 16 kWh lithium-ion battery, a top speed of approximately 80 mph (130 km/h) and a range of about 80 to 100 miles on one charge.
Additionally, formerly optional features that are standard on the new model will include heated front seats, a CHAdeMO DC quick charge port, a battery warming system, and an 8-amp/12-amp switchable Level 1 charging cable. That cable will enable a full charge from near-empty in 22 hours at 8 amps, or 14 hours at 12 amps.
There's currently no word on pricing or features for non-North American versions.
Source: Mitsubishi
If you almost bought an electric car this year but held off, you may now be glad that you did – yesterday, Mitsubishi Motors North America announced that the 2014 edition of its i-MiEV will be selling for US$6,130 less than the current model.
The six-grand-plus reduction will bring the total price to $22,995. If you factor in the $7,500 federal tax credit available to EV buyers in the US, that price drops to $15,495.
Full specs on the 2014 i-MiEV aren't yet available, although if it's like the current 2012 model, it will feature a 49kW AC synchronous motor fed by a 16 kWh lithium-ion battery, a top speed of approximately 80 mph (130 km/h) and a range of about 80 to 100 miles on one charge.
Additionally, formerly optional features that are standard on the new model will include heated front seats, a CHAdeMO DC quick charge port, a battery warming system, and an 8-amp/12-amp switchable Level 1 charging cable. That cable will enable a full charge from near-empty in 22 hours at 8 amps, or 14 hours at 12 amps.
There's currently no word on pricing or features for non-North American versions.
Source: Mitsubishi
Goodness me we ripped off here in Oz!
My concern on this vehicle is the battery. The Leaf has a 24KWH battery, too small in my opinion. This iMEV has an even smaller battery! Perhaps the iMEV is more efficient or lighter or something? It would need to have something special over the Leaf to get nearly the same range on a smaller battery.
I will always love the ICE but am still interested in the future but let's not forget that we have to begin producing prodigious cheap electricity if we all are to drive electric cars.
To that end, I'm still intrigued by the new nuclear technologies, especially LFTR concepts that could be scalable, negating the need to produce it at large facilities hundreds of miles from point of use and suffering losses during delivery.
Hopefully, I will still be able to get some gasoline to drive my old cars when electric cars become the norm.