Mitsubishi i-MiEV to get shorter range, cheaper price

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By Tim Beissmann | June 15th, 2011

Mitsubishi will produce a cheaper version of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicle around the beginning of next year.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. President, Osamu Masuko, said the entry-level i-MiEV would have a shorter driving range and would become the first EV on sale in Japan for less than two million yen ($23,200).

The full-range i-MiEV is currently on sale in Japan for 3.98 million yen ($46,200), although government subsidies bring that down to 2.98 million yen ($34,600). It’s key competitor, the Nissan LEAF, is similarly priced at around three million yen.

Including subsidies, the Nikkei newspaper has predicted the price of the short-range i-MiEV could be as low as 1.7 million yen ($19,750).

The significant savings will be a result of the reduced capacity of the lithium-ion battery. While the standard Mitsubishi i-MiEV has a full range of about 160km, the cheaper i-MiEV is expected to have a range of between 100km and 120km.

Effectively, customers of the new i-MiEV will lose 30 percent of driving range but save 40 percent on the total vehicle price.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia announced last week that the full-range Mitsubishi i-MiEV would go on sale to the public in August with a price of around $50,000.

With the same percentages applied, the short-range i-MiEV would effectively cost $30,000 in Australia.

Would you be more likely to buy an i-MiEV if it cost $30,000? Or is 120km too impractical for Australian driving conditions?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

JEKYL & HYDE

it should read…longer range,cheaper price.people may well look back on this e.v. as the worst value car ever…
Alexander

A 100km range would suit many people living in cities/urban areas; I’d get one if it was available in Aus for under $30k as I’d rarely do 50km in a day and the smaller battery would take less time to charge…
Leslie

100-120km range for 30 grand!! Where do I sign up?!?
rose

Ill could push that car further for 500
Shak

Most people just use statistics and say that 100-120km would definitely suit most peoples daily driving, but its just like real world driving conditions in a fossil fuel car. You may theoretically get 600km out of a tank, but in the real world this could drop to 500km simply due to factors outside of your control. It will be the same with EV’s. Just say the ‘fuel’ gauge says you have 160km left, but you decide to take the highway home, just because the distance is shorter, your driving range will suddenly drop because of the extra effort required to keep the car up to highway speeds. EV range has to greatly increase before most people should actually consider them. Yes, most of the initial buyers will be tech savvy early adopters who could most likely adjust to the different lifestyle they would need to own an EV; but as the statistics say 80% of people who apparently can have their needs met with an EV, would probably get a shock(no pun intended) from the whole experience.
Fiz

150km for $20,000 and I might be in on my next buy. $13,000 drive away and I’d be super interested.

As Shak says an EV must mean certain changes in habits like not beaing so able to park the car on the street overnight (unless someone invents tarmac that charges EVs).

It all seems a bit early right now for this type of vehicle.
Yonny

No, still wouldn’t buy one. I live in regional NSW, not in the sticks, but even so, my driving divides neatly into two types of trip: a)short, around town, where range would not be important, and b) every other trip, where range would be critical – and a range of 120 km would be inadequate (and even 160 would be cutting it fine).

I would reckon that my situation would be common, regardless of where they live. For what percentage of people driving into Sydney on their daily commute would an EV range of 100 to 120 km be sufficient? I’m guessing it’s a lot smaller than you think.

No, EV range has to increase (dramatically) before electric cars are a suitable replacement for ICE-powered vehicles.

Alexander

Of course, a full EV is not suited to your needs, although most of Australia’s population is centred around it’s cities, not regional areas. Therefore an EV for commuting to an from work would be ideal for many Sydneysiders, for example the commute from Sydney to Castle hill is 30km each way, from Sydney to Windsor is 60km each way, Sydney to Penrith is 56km on the M4, Sydney to Parramatta is 25km, Sydney to Campbelltown is 57km, Sydney to Woolongong is 93km, Sydney to Lithgow is 142km. I think if you’re adventurous you could commute around Sydney in the average (160km) range EV with not trouble, and considering a few underground carparks have powerpoints (if you look around you’d be surprised), one could even scavenge for electricity…

Yonny

Well, I guess that’s my point. If you live in Windsor, which you can consider to be part of the great metropolis of Sydney, and commute to Sydney for work, you’d be travelling 120km per day. The newer, cheaper i-Miev as described above, with a max range of around 120km just wouldn’t cut it. Sure, some days you’d make it home, but some days you wouldn’t.

Even Castle Hill – take a detour to/from work (ie to drop off/pick up kids from school) and you might well run out of juice.

Don’t get me wrong, all for looking at alternatives, and for some the i-Miev even with the reduced range will be more than adequate. But for the majority it won’t be.

Alexander

Definately in today’s era of limited recharging facilities it is, although by the time charge points and even fast charge facilities are available at workplace it will be less and less of a problem, hopefully by then the average EV will be capable of travelling >200km as well…
RunFlat

Would you seriously commute daily Windsor – City in this tiny thing? No Way! You’d get a Prius or Insight for that sort of use. If it were me I’d use it to get to the railway and back, a 15K round trip.
Phil

Yonny, I think you are a little off, if you think that the majority of people commute 120km or more to and from work. The average return commute is probably around 20km for those who commute by car.

RunFlat

Mitsubishi should make the vehicle avaliable with an expandable battery pack, just like they sell those colour printers. You get the printer cheap and then shell out later for the ink. Same with batteries. Why not release an 80K range for 25,000 and make additional range available as 20K range add-ons? Obviously that depends on how many Watts they need to make the thing go in the first place.
bold

I would be one of those mitsu may consider to be happy with 100-120km range, I only travel 30km to work and back home. But the thing is, I do need to go to blue mountain or central coast once in a while, how can I do that with 120km range?

Maybe swappable battery pack can fix this problem, but I just believe that will make design/manufacturing cost go up, plus the interior would be odd. Most important of all, do I lift the 100kg battery myself, or pay a really strong mate $30 to do it in battery stations?

Peter

If he is your mate he should do it for free.

X10

They should really be aiming for increased range, cheaper price. Electric or not, it’s still poor value for a little city car.
Steve

In terms of value you have to take into account that the cost of filling it up with even 100% green electricity is tiny in comparison to petrol.

Instead you are paying maybe $20k extra upfront for the battery which should last for the life of the car. If you look at the total cost over the life of the car you are probably at a similar or lower cost to a petrol car.
nickdl

I’m not convinced. How achievable has 160km been in real world conditions so far? Once you’ve got the radio, air-con and whatever else, and don’t drive like a 90 year old it’s not going to be easy to achieve that sort of range. 100-120 just wouldn’t be enough for me.

I think cars like the Chevy Volt with the range extender and the hydrogen Honda FCX are the way to go for the future but even then LPG is a much easier option for the short term.
MK

Only as a second car and for under $25′.
darkone

has anyone ever thought that when charging stations are placed on the street some richard craniums will come along and vandalise them,so no charge to get home,what if they cut the power cable for fun?.These cars do seem to be over priced,what about night running,how much does the charge drop with the lights and heater going in the winter or aircon in summer?

Alexander

Cutting the power cord means they’d get a nice 240v going through them

darkone

serve them right then

Hung Low

I think most prospective buyers would rather just wait for the Nissan Leaf release. The pricing might be sharper than we think and it is much more car than the MiEV!
$30k for 100km is a start though, but variable driving factors will only see this viable for those living 30km withing the CBD or workplace fringe!
http://www.jimellismitsubishi.com Mitsubishi Atlanta

A 40% savings in total vehicle price is pretty big! If buyers can handle the 30% decrease in driving range then this is a great deal! Bring on the i-MiEV to the US!
Ben

Why complain about what this car is not. Praise it for what it is. The range is the range. If it is not suitable for you, that is not a fault of the car. It simply means that it is not suitable for you.

I will bet that a Porche 911 does not make a good family, but you would sit there and complain about how it should be made to suit your family car needs.

It is a stupid argument. This car perfectly suits it it’s design goal. It does not suit things it was not designed for. Get over it already.