Mitsubishi i-MiEV – Mitsubishi Electric Car lands in Australia

By Alborz Fallah | March 12th, 2010

Today marked the arrival of the first mass-produced electric cars in Australia. The two Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicles landed into the Port of Brisbane to a warm welcome from the media and gave Mitsubishi the crown of the first manufacturer to bring a ready-to-sell electric car down under.

The Queensland’s Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Kate Jones, and MMAL’s president and CEO, Robert McEniry were present to spell out the future of electric vehicles.

The i-MiEV has been on sale in Japan since July last year and will go on sale in Australia in the next few months. European versions start production on the next couple of months.

Mr McEniry said the future of cars is showcased in the i-MiEV, pointing out that even the likes of Porsche and Ferrari are embracing electric or hybrid vehicles and that the i-MiEV is not a gimmick but the first of the next generation of electric vehicles.

Some interesting facts about the i-MiEV is its 160km range per charge, which takes 7 hours on a normal household plug. Once the “fast-charge” infestracture is available here you can charge the car to 80% capacity in just 30 minutes. It can travel at up to 130km/h using three different modes: Drive, Eco and Brake.

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV has the ability to read the load on the power grid and only use power when the power grid usage is at its lowest (at night). Of course it can recharge anytime when required. Mr McEniry said the next generation of these vehicles will have the ability to even give back power to the grid when plugged in.

The Climate Change Minister said the QLD government is currently working on an electric vehicle policy which should be finalised by the end of the year, she also didn’t rule out incentives to entice buyers but said she was more focused on getting the policy right first.

No Australian pricing was announced and we don’t expect those details for another few months.

According to Ashley Sanders, Mitsubishi’s project manager for i-miEV, the real constraint is the batteries with lithium being in short supply. Mitsubishi has signed a deal with West Australia company Lithium Australia to boost its lithium battery production.

The battery in the i-MiEVs is a 16 kilowatt hour. If you’re unfamiliar with what a kilowatt hour is: a household heater rated at 1000 watts (1 kilowatt), left on for one hour uses one kilowatt hour (equivalent to 3,600 kilojoules) of energy.

Mr Sanders told CarAdvice that the i-MiEV and its battery will last at least 10 years if not more. The battery pack is separated into 22 modules each carrying four batteries and there has been no battery failure to date.

The car is powered by a single electric motor that drives the rear wheels. Power is put from the engine into a reduction gear and then through a differential. Mr Sanders said most first time drivers are surprised at its acceleration, as the Electric i-MiEV can accelerate faster than its petrol equivalent.

The fast-charge system currently used in Japan is a result of the Japanese manufacturers agreeing on one set of standards for charging electric vehicles and with charging stations being available in populated areas. Australia is still in the process of examining needs for electric vehicle standards.

Mr Sanders says he personally uses a 3kW solar array on his house which can produce 17kilowatt hours of energy per day that will easily recharge the i-MiEV from empty to full, meaning there is absolutely no emissions generated when the car is charged.

CarAdvice will bring you a full review and road test of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV before the end of the month.

We previously drove the pre-production prototype, read our Mitsubishi i-MieV review.

Frenchie

It looks like a very narrow vehicle. Look forward to CA testing this car and giving their opinion on it.
What does it cost?
bruzzer

This car is really cute, really.
Rick

Bring it on I say – lets screw over the oil companies by buying these things in droves – they have been doing us over since the ICE was invented!

How clever to charge up the car using a solar array (not sure what these things are exactly) fitted to the house – does that mean free energy not to mention nil emissions.

I think this electric car stuff can work if it is charged up using solar energy – it is clean and diminishes our dependence on oil, and that can only be good for all of us.

Well done Mitsubishi!
D

Ten News just said it was going to cost around $70,000!

DGS

If that is true then this car is a dud. $17,000 would be an apropiate price, $70,000 is just bloody stupid. You could buy mini plus 10 years worth of petrol and 5 years worth of serviceing for the same money.

Everything apart from the price is right for a city comuter.

DGS

If this were a petrol car it would be $15,000 to $20,000. Electric motors are a hell of a lot cheaper than internal combustion motors. The one thing that is expensive in electric cars are the Lithium Ion batteries.

If we take a reasonable guess that the car (batteries not included) is worth $20,000 max, are the batteries really worth $50,000???
Lazybones

All manufacturers seem to keep the actual battery price very secret, with Tesla being the only exception at ($680 per KWh). Prices seem to vary from about $600-1000 USD per KWh.

Given Mitsubish would have greater buying power than Tesla you would think their 16KWh pack would be no more that 12-15k USD.

Austintatious

“Solar Today”, June, 2010, has the U. S. price at $30,000, still plenty expensive. The $70,ooo figure has got to be a mistake.

It’s high time we’re starting to see vehicles like the i-MiEV hit the market. As the EV’s are produced and sold in greater numbers, the technology will improve and the price should come down.

And we, of course, will have to belly up and buy one.

Shak

Looks to be a very good indication of our electric future. I like the idea of the next gen giving power back to the grille. I have an idea where manufacturers of cars like this offer solar panels as an option for your house and will charge you to come and install them, so that way you have free energy for your car and maybe a bit for the house.
Tom22

If they can get this under $30,000 it will sell in droves

70k is an absolute joke

hazyman

It will be impossible. I heard even in Japan it is sold more than 46000 AUD equivalent.

nick

I’d like to know when that ‘fast charge’ technology comes in to Aus. I wouldn’t mind one then if it was reasonably priced. Until then this car is completely useless. Seven hours of charging from coal power completely defeats the purpose of this car and is a large step back from where we are today.
Splatcat

As someone mentioned in the Audi Electric article, it is good and well having electric cars, but how will our obsolete electricity grid handle a whole heap of electric cars when it can’t even cope with the demands of summer. Electric cars are all good and well, but if it is being charged by electricity from a coal power station what is the point. Unless we switch to nuclear power, electric environmental friendly cars are an oxymoron. 7 hours to charge a car, you have to be kidding. Electric cars are a false economy, you save on petrol, but your electricty bill will be far greater then what you would have spent on petrol, especially considering most if not all all states are increasing the cost of electricity by 50% over the next year.

John

What does it cost for a unit of power in Australia? I would guess around 20c. A unit of power is a kWh and the car holds 16 or about $3 worth and that will carry you about 160km. Petrol costs about $1.20 and a car of this size would use about 5L/100km so to drive 160km on petrol would cost about $10. So the running costs of the car would be about 30% of its petrol powered equivalent purely in terms of energy costs. Even if electricity goes up 50% and petrol doesn’t change it would still cost less than half to run. Maintenance costs should also be lower due to not needing oil changes, air filter, spark plug, and coolant changes and the brakes should last longer due to the regenerative braking displacing some of their use.

http://www.vincenttannahill.com Vincent

Thank you! Maths trumps assumptions any day.

Snake Doctor

160km range, 7 hours to charge. Assuming the car can do 100km/h, a trip from Sydney to Brisbane (Approx 960Km), would take working on average speed of 80km/h, 54 hours.
Electric cars have a long way to go before they are suitable for Australian driving. Good for city driving if you can afford the huge rise in your electricity bill, useless for anything else.

nick

couldn’t agree more
rentakeyboard

Yr missing the point. These types of vehicles are only meant for the CITY in the interest of pollution reduction.

I dont think it would be terribly comfortable for a long haul.
The thought of driving this among the semis up the Pacific Hwy is rather terrifying.

My daily commute is 70ks return combine city/fwy. i could get two days running out of one charge. If it really does cost the same as a household fridge to charge, then after i paid for the car Im saving $45 a week by not putting ULP in my current car (Barina) and even if i doubled my qtly power bill $220 then I am WAY infront. If i want to drive to Coffs harbour fm Newcastle im gonna need another car. OR something like a Volt with a backup engine,
Swings and roundabouts, but for a couple living in the heart of Sydney looking for a second car this would make a lot of sense even at $40K.
Be agressive with pricing Mitsu and I reckon Melbourne and Sydney will soak these up.

toxic_horse

Most people would hardly every need to drive over 160Km in a day.
If you do then this car is not designed for you.

Hendrik

I think you’re looking at the vehicle in the wrong light, this is not designed for long trips, its basically a city runabout that costs 10% of a Petrol Car to run.
Betty Blue

So $70000 for a run around around car, yep that makes sense financialy. You could buy a Ford Fiesta econetic, for a 1/3 of the price with running costs not much disimilar to the electric car, without the need to charge it for 7 hours.

Betty Blue

Why can’t they harness the kinetic energy created by the wheels turning to charge the batteries as you drive, much like the lights on bicycles that attach to the front wheels.
Also, will listening to the radio o having your lights on effect the range of the car.

Jeff

I wonder why Mitsubishi didnt think of that?

Stuart Evans

Jeffry!
You are so naughty!
Thank Dawkins!

http://www.caradvice.com.au/ Alborz Fallah

The kinetic energy, as used mostly in brake regeneration technology is only affective when braking, if the friction was high enough to capture energy, you will be putting out more energy to move than you can capture, it works better when a human being is the power plant as the idea is to use energy
alex

Can you stand in a bucket and lift yourself up? The angular kinetic energy you speak of is converted into the thing that we use cars for: motion. If you harness that, your car doesn’t move anymore. The 1st law of thermodynamics applies to everything, no matter how “eco friendly” it is.
KENNETH

HAVE AN ELECTRIC SCOOTER AND AN ELECTRIC CHOPPER BIKE AND NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHY SUCH A RECHARGING SYSTEM SUCH AS WE KNOW WORKED >MANY YEARS AGO ON REGULAR BIKE LIGHTS CANNOT BE USED ON CARS ? DO NOT SEE HOW A WHEEL INSTALLED ON TIRES WOULD REQUIRE MUCH ENERGY TO ROLL !
RESIDE IN THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA,CANADA, AND WE ARE STILL “WAITING”
FOR GOV.APPROVAL TO USE ELECTRIC CARS FOR CITY AND SHORT COMMUTES ?
ABUNDANT SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY,HYDRO,IN THIS PROVINCE AT A GOOD PRICE.
VEHICLE AND OIL COMPANIES HOLDING US BACK I BELIEVE.
MANY VEHICLE DEALERSHIPS ARE CLOSING NOW DUE TO DROP IN SALES,FEW COULD
BE REPLACED WITH ELECTRIC CAR SALES !
ADMIRE THE FACT THAT AUSTRALIA AND OTHERS ARE MOVING FORWARD >> ALL THE BEST !
Raymond

Sorry Betty Blue . The laws of Physics are such that if you use power to drive the car and make it move you need a power source-Electricity from the Battery. Using the brakes on a vehicle to SLOW IT DOWN actually uses power.(Not battery power)
It takes the power from the cars momentum. Imagine trying to slow a moving car by standing in front of the car. You would need heaps of power from your body to slow it down. If you expect to put power into the batteries while the car is USING electricity from the batteries, then ALL the electricity you use, originates from the batteries. You cannot have it both ways. ALL electricity from an ALL electric car ,comes from the batteries. The only way to put energy back into the batteries, is to use the free energy which you get while running downhill.This recharges the batteries a little bit and it also does SOME of the braking. The electricity which is put back into the batteries when it goes down the hill is actually only about 10% of the amount you use to move the car up the hill. A lot of the energy used going down hill, is used to overcome wind resistance and friction of moving parts and friction between the road and rubber tyre. This is why most car makers choose to go ‘Hybrid’ instead of all Electric. Regenerative electricity during Braking is pretty much a sales gimmick. ‘All electric’ cars are not at all practical. Nobody has yet come up with batteries that are light enough and cheap enough to be PRACTICAL alternative to Petrol or Diesel.

BEEng

Raymond,
Close but a few mistakes.
Braking can be done by eltric cars completely. Of course this is limited to electric motors that can supply/stand the torqe required to brake a car. A few do exist that can do this, the produce and can brake 600NM of torque per wheel. As well as this you must be able to put this energy quickly back into the battery, a few problems may arise there but still doable. Of course I doubt this car could do that. I would like to know where you got the 10% for regenerating, 90% fritcion and wind loss, well maybe if you were doing 300Kmh.

Hung Low

Why don’t these cars have heavy duty solar panels on the roofs so they can self charge or top up charge during daylight?
Imagine a commute to work uses 10% of battery, whilst parked outside all day the batteries are fully topped up and ready to go~!

Frenchie

Just that Huag, the solar panel is too heavy in weight and expensive.Also it needs to be at the right angle to the sun. The loss of energy from it being flat could be up to 30%. Assuming you drive it to a city, you would have to park it on the roof in a carpark, assuming other buildings don’t block the sun.

Philthy

The area of a car roof probably isn’t big enough to capture enough energy to charge the vehicle. My googling indicated that we get between 280 – 460 W/ m2 and a typical solar panel achieves 10-15% efficiency. So that gives you about 40 W/ m2 on a clear sunny day. If a commute to work takes 10% of your 16kWH battery, thats 1.6 kW. You’d need a 5 m2 panel to charge the car in 8 hours to travel 16km. (assuming 100% efficiency for the charging electronics). Actually that comes close… my commute is about 30k’s though. Mind you solar panel efficiency is heading for 30% in some of the new designs. You might yet get your wish.
Hung Low

I understand the under cover car park scenario etc, hence the panel on the roof is not a solution for the car to completely charge itself, but I indicated its use only for a sustainability charge, i.e if the car is used on very short trips or a couple of times a week, the car in theory could charge itself with no reliance from a power grid.
On the topic of solar panels, they too have come a long way, smaller, lighter, some flexible and cheaper. Perhaps these can be optional on top spec models because of added cost!

MrKarz

Hung, you are on the right track. One of my older brothers, an engineer, built a solar car named ‘RALOS’ and raced it from Texas to Minnesota (the GM SUNRAYCE) in the early 1990′s. This car was never plugged in; the only power source was the sun. Would this particular vehicle car have been a practical family car? Not really. But solar panels and batteries have come a LONG way since then (research ‘thin film photovoltaics’). These are lightweight, inexpensive, and provide a decent amount of power. They aren’t necessarily going to provide all of your charging power, but if you park your car in a sunny parking lot while you’re at work, you might just cover a good percentage of your recharging needs, not to mention extending your driving range during sunny weather. Aside from increasing the cost of a vehicle, there’s no good reason why you couldn’t have an electric car that is ‘wrapped’ in solar panels. And of course you can back this up with a solar array at your home or office to top up your batteries without relying on a coal-fired electrical plant… My brother most recently designed the battery pack and battery management systems for this car http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1042832_coda-ev-first-ride-with-video and here’s another one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGWZCxauZ3c&feature=player_embedded

rentakeyboard

Cost of the solar panels!

GranmaEcho

Only if I had the money to throw away. At this point in time sorry can’t help ya.
Minnow

Putting emmisions aside and focusing on running costs if the array of solar panels was large enough it could feed enough energy into the grid during the day running the electricity meter in reverse when electricity costs are at the On peak rates 31.97 cents/kWh in summer. Then by the time you get home you plug it in and then that drains from the grid which between 5pm and 9pm electricity is 19.50 cents/kWh then 9.12 cents/kWh during offpeak between 9pm and 7am. Hopefully draining less than what the panels put in during the day. So in theory you get home at 5pm start charging away between 5pm and 9pm this costs $1.27. Then 9pm till 12pm costs 27.36 cents. totalling $1.54 for a 7 hour charge. To break even you would need a solar array that feeds 1000kwh for 6 hours during peak period reversing the meter crediting you $1.59. Just depends how much a 1000kwh solar array costs.

Minnow

Adding on… For a 1kw solar array it costs anywhere between $9000 and $20000. So you have to spend that amount on top of the car in order to have “free” transport.

Hung Low

Interesting, that price is beyond consideration!

Talk then think

At 1000kw/hr for 6 hrs you would be making much more then $1.59, at the price of 9.12 cents per kw/hr for every hr you would make $91.20 and for 6 hrs that would total at $547.20. That is for the lowest price aswell, so you would not need a 1000kw/hr array of dollar panels. The car needs 7hrs till full charge and 16kw/hr so that equates to a total of 112 kw’s.

Lets say worst case scenario we charge it when the cost is approx. 32 cents per kw/hr then the car would total for $35.84 for 160km. Best case scenario if the cos is 9.12 cents per kw/hr it would cost $10.58. This costs the same as approx. 6l/100km for a car filled with petrol assuming petrol is around $1.10. In regards to solar panels the govt. was if i recall correctly giving grants for them.

Talk then think

Sorry to drag on but you would need at least a solar panel that generated more then 14 kw/hr assuming there is only 8 hrs of light in a day.
Matt

like to try the maths again?

16kwh is the capacity, not a rate. max charging rate from a 10A GPO is 2.4kw.
there is no such thing as 1kw/hr
1kw = 1000 Joules of energy per second

16kwh @ 32c/kwh = $5.12/charge = $3.2/100km
16kwh @ 9.12c/kwh = $1.45/charge = $0.91/100km

assuming petrol is $1.10/L,
at peak rates its cost equivalent to 2.9L/100km
or at off peak rates 0.82L/100km

only the honda insight could approach the on-peak rates.

Matt

billie joe

The battery system is a 16kwh system that takes 7 hours to charge fully. This means it take 16 kilowatts of electricity per hour to charge the battery, for a full charge in 7 hours this would mean it would take a total of 112 kilowatt hours to fully charge the battery.

There are two types of meters in NSW at the moment. Basic meters (charge the same rate 24/7) and Time of Use Meters (charge different rates, peak, off peak and shoulder depending on the time of day).

Households with basic meters (the far majority of customers in NSW) often have an off peak meter as well which is supplied with electricity between the hours of 11pm and 7am, but these meters must have appliance hard wired into them, like an off peak hot water meter, meaning you could not plug the car into the off peak meter (they don’t have power points).

Currently customers with basic meters in NSW, are largely billed at approx 17 cents per kwh for the first 1750 kwh per quarter, then any excess consumption is billed at up to 24 cents per kwh. Most households will use 1750 kwh per quarter for the appliances they currently use, and more being billed at the higher rate. This means that for those with a basic meter they will be being billed at 24 cents per kwh when they are charging the car. This equates to 16 x $0.24 = $3.84 for every hour the car is being charged, of $26.88 for a full charge ($3.84 x 7). $26.88 for 160 klms is not cheap. Even with fuel at $1.50 per liter, this equates to rougly the same cost as running as car that uses 11 liters per 100/klms.

That in perspective, anyone who would buy this car would have to get themselves a time of use meter, or else it wouldn’t be worth having this car. With a time of use meter, you could utilise off peak rates for charging the car. TOU off peak tariff of approx 8 cents per kwh applies between the hours of 10pm and 7am everyday (within the Energy Australia distribution region – very similar prices and times for other distribution regions). This means if you only charged the car between 10pm and 7am you could charge the car for $8.96 for a full charge (16kwh x $0.08 cents/kwh x 7 hours). Petrol at $1.50 per liter, charging costs would compare with fuel consumption for a car of 3.7 liters per 100 klms.

A Ford Fiesta Ecotec uses about this for a purchase price of $25000. With the possible prices for the iMiEV being suggested here, you would have A LOT of money left over for fuel.

The idea of installing a solar system in your property that you could use to charge the car is what everyone should be thinking about, currently a 1kwh system will cost approximately $10000 to install, so if a 3 kwh system produced enough electricity for your daily driving needs, then you sort of have an idea about how much it would cost for the infrastructure to start with. But this is where the idea of electric cars have great merit, so long as we can run them on renewable fuel sources, then they will be a proper replacement for the internal combustion engine.

Electricity companies would love if everyone jumped ship from gasoline powered cars to electric cars, they will make billions, but the sad fact is that the far majority of electricity generated in the Australia, does not come from renewable sources, its from coal or gas fired power stations, and these are responsible for massive amount of emissions, and these will only increase if people start using mains electricity to run their car.

If people are thinking of electric cars as a method of reducing green house emissions then major changes are needed to have the current methods of producing electricity replaced with more solar/wind whatever renewable sources. If this is not done, all that is happening is people are replacing one non renewable polluter with another.

And if people are thinking of electric cars from a purely financial point of view and wanting to save money on petrol, then the electric cars are going to have to become a lot more efficient themselves if people are only using mains power to charge them.

In addition to this electricity prices are only going to increase. It is assumed that within the next 5 years (if/when the carbon emissions trading scheme is introduced) that the price of electricity will double.

BTW I attended an electric car show not that long ago, and saw the Telsa. It was a very good looking car, and was eerily quite when it ‘roared’ past on the 0-100klms display test. I’d buy one if I was rich and if I had my own solar system to run it.

fabs

billie joe wrote>”The battery system is a 16kwh system that takes 7 hours to charge fully. This means it take 16 kilowatts of electricity per hour to charge the battery, for a full charge in 7 hours this would mean it would take a total of 112 kilowatt hours to fully charge the battery.”

regarding the above quote only:
billie joe’s maths = wrong
matt’s maths= right

with a “normal household plug” You get 10amp at ~240v which is 2400 watts. In an hour, this would give you 2.4 kilowatt hours of energy. In 7 hours this would give you 16.8 kilowatt hours. So you would need about 16.8 kilowatt hours to fully charge the battery to its rated capacity of 16 kilowatt hours (assuming it was somewhat empty when you started).

By the way – no offence meant – just trying to correct a misconception about how many kilowatt hours are needed to charge the battery.

Minnow

That makes more sense, i was thinking it was a little cheap to run that car.

Minnow

Ok so in the electricity rates according to Synergy in summer the offpeak rates are as I said above
9pm and 7am – 9.12 cents/kWh
and as fabs said
“In an hour, this would give you 2.4 kilowatt hours of energy. In 7 hours this would give you 16.8 kilowatt hours.”

So if a person was to charge their iMiev during off peak like a sensible person would it would cost
7 x 2.4 x 0.0912 = $1.53

jinsei

Well done Mitsubishi!

Fat greedy oil companies should be worried very soon. Electric cars are not only much more sustainable for the environment but also make far better sense than hybrid as they do not place any reliance on petrol at all.

I really hope that mitsu will work harder on their further electric car devlopment so that the maximum driving distance per charge can get to around 300kms. Then, those i-Mievs will just smash the ugly fat global oil cartel.

toxic_horse

The government should be subsidizing these, not hybrid Camry’s and Commodores.
Michael

How sustainable are the lithium ion batteries, how sustainable is the coal fired power, etc etc… for th ecar to be sustainable it must have reneable energy which is out of reach of the common man currently.. i dont think the oil companies are shaking in their boots looks like a lot of oil derived products are used in the car i.e a lot of plastics… and then what of the batteries??

http://www.betweentwopoints.com Andy

According to Mitsubishi when I spoke to them at their i-Miev demonstration this time last year, the batteries are 95% recyclable.
Lazybones

Its a common point missed with rechargable batteries. You HAVE to recycle them, they cannot be dumped into landfill.

“i dont think the oil companies are shaking in their boots”

It is hard to say, but given the recent claim that opec only has 1/3 of the oil reserves it really claims. Its becomes a real possibility that we have already entered peak oil. So getting these EV alternatives going could be more than just about reducing emissions.

Victor

What about putting up solar panels on top of service stations. Just a thought!

Hung Low

They cannot even stock up on disposable gloves at the diesel bowser let alone invest in solar.

Louise O’Brien

I want one. I have been waiting to buy a new car for over 12 months because the only car I want to buy is an electric car. When the next war starts in the middle east I will be safe and sound with my electric car.
Thank you Mitsubishi.

Shak

The US arent in any of their countries besides Iraq and thats finished. They just there until they can ship all the oil over.
D

You’re going to be in for a long wait.

Hung Low

Here is the only problem I have with this car……….One can buy a Suzuki Alto (similar size) which say at 50% the price will allow up to almost a decade of fuel!! If the Alto was 30% the cost of the MieV, the saving on the purchase price would buy at least 16 years of petrol!
http://www.oztion.com.au/?r=11153 omgwot

I could not see myself driving one of these, I still laugh when I see a smart four2 on the road. Why not just put this motor into a Lancer instead of this weird looking car.
For $70k I would buy a G6E T and have enough for 2 years plus petrol.
Roguenjosh

This little buzz-box has mucho potential. I’m a little sickened by the $70,000 price-tag estimated in the news report I saw about it, though. Surely it couldn’t cost that much to produce? I would suspect that such exorbitant figures are a result of the corporation charging like wounded bulls for technology they know there will be a huge demand for.

John

I think $70k is the early adopters price. They’re banking on at least 2 rich er people in the whole of Australia that think this is a bargan.

motogp fan

When the Chinese get into this market, expect without batteries, the $5K electric car. If you develop electric cars with the batteries as a replaceable item they make a lot of sense.

Shak

They already have an Electric Geely, with slightly more range but something like a price which is 60% lower.

Michael

Love to see one at about 30K… will have to wait for Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt to make it to Australia I suppose. I think the Chevy Volt has the front running larger car, range extender and looks great! BUT a dark horse just might be the Renault Fluence EV, battery swap by Better Place and talk of sub 30K US price, Renault Australia can I put a deposit down?
PT

Why are we waisting or time and energy on cars that’s only good for city or very short trips? More public transport people!
Pete Repeat

Look also at more efficient non-renewables such as Fuel Cells as a bridging solution. They decentralise the power infrastructure, provide cheap, more efficient power at the point of delivery, and would also allow for scaled handling of the imminent increase in electricity demand that electric vehicles will bring.
Whats more, we have the manufacturer of the most efficient natural gas fuel cells in the world right under our noses: Ceramic Fuel Cells – an Aussie Company.
Ceramic Fuel Cells make a dishwasher sized generator that uses Natural Gas and generates up to 2kW with efficiency of 85% (if you use the waste heat for your hot water system). Having these in place would be a good match for the electric car.
Steven A

Its good to see that most people contributing to this discussion are being objective and not merely complaining in complete arrogance.

Its about time Austalia has received its first mass production fully electric vehicle, we often seem to be the last to get everything down here, thanks Mitsubishi.

I feel electric vehicles like the iMIEV are definitely the way of the future, the technology may still be in its infancy with battery life estimated to last over a decade which is pretty good but that can only improve as time goes on, the great thing is obviously the environmental factor.

Unlike conventional combustion engine vehicles there is only one source of pollution here and thats from the electricity source/station and none from the vehicle, whats even more exciting is that if you have a suitable solar panel source at your place of residence then there is absolutely no polltion.

The price of this first generation vehicle is estimated to eventually retail around $50,000, this vehicle is currently being subsidised in other markets around the world either as a tax break or cash contribution of around $10,000, now thats tempting.
Obviously the price will come down as time goes on, I wonder why that hasnt really been the case with Toyota’s Prius?.

I also understand that the iMIEV generates a small charge to its batteries every time you apply the brakes too.

I understand that Mitsubishi is curently developing Lancer and the next generation Pajero with this technology which should appeal to more buyers.

In my opinion Toyota needs to move on from hybrid and go full electric, really whats the point of hybrid engines when you still have a petrol engine in use, the point is to remove all emissions.

Go Mitsubishi!.
Neo Utopia

Senario 1: Trip from Brisbane to Sydney (without needing to make any stops): if the interstate high speed rail system was as good as it is in France, Germany, Japan, Korea and now China then one could just catch a ride in an electric taxi to the central train station, then board the highly energy efficient high speed train (compared to a polluting jet aircraft) and people would be in Sydney city in less than 3 hours.

Scenario 2: Trip from Brisbane to the Gold Coast: Make sure you have topped up the batteries with your solar fed supply (which will cost you heaps), drive down, spend a few of hours at the beach, then decide to drive up to the hinterland, park at the local solar fed fuelling station (in an ideal future) for a few hours while having a picnic followed by a bushwalk, then drive back to Brisbane with enough energy.

IT CAN BE DONE, BUT WILL COST YOU AN INSANE AMOUNT OF MONEY, SO WHY NOT JUST BUY A HIGHLY EFFICIENT DEISEL SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED CAR AND USE THE EXTRA ON INCREASING YOUR HOME’S ENERGY EFFICIENCY?

toxic_horse

No one is saying you should attempt this. its a city car for your daily drive in the city.
Stuart

I know a roof panel installer who says that,given the installation subsidy,the renewable energy certificates, and the gross feed-in tarrifs, the return rate on household solar panels is 20%.

Neo Utopia

One more thing, if most transport contribute to approximately 18% of all green house gases, then imagine if all the people in the industrialised parts of the world originally used highly efficient diesel small to medium sized cars, like most people do in most countries in Europe, then how would the planet’s health be now?

Even better, if all people in the industrialised parts of the world did what they do in the developed countries in this list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_per_capita (Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, South Korea etc.) and used more public transport and/or bicycled/walked then we wouldn’t have to worry about a 300 g/km Ferrari or Lamborghini would we?
Arnt Wollum

Who is producing the batteries?
Are there any Australian manufacturers?
Arnt
mandy

Jees that ashley is cute!!!!
Mike

Yahoo I’m all for electric cars but you have to do the real world calcs. I drive in the city each day, return trip to work from home of 28km. However I live at the top of a 400m high hill, which takes me 5 minutes to climb at 60 kph in my petrol car. Over that climb of 5 km I calculate 13.3kWh of energy is used (independent of the type of vehicle – bicycle, car or horse). So I would struggle to drive 14km home on one charge of 16kWh. So perhaps I should check whether my pushy would fit in the back.

Mitsubishi has probably validated the 160km range on terrain which best suits power delivery from the batteries, i.e. flat terrain.

In the end we probably have to accept nature for what it is and live with compromises in our ability to think we’re smarter.

BEEng

Mike,
Your right you do have to do the real world calcs. so Here’s how. To raise you say 2000Kg (assume you like SUV’s) car/semi monster truck up 400m that would be 2000X400X9.81 (gravity)= 7848000 Joules. To convert to KwHrs X 2.7778×10−7 = 2.18 KwHrs. That is of course in addition to the energry had you lived on level ground. Care to explain how you got 13.3KwH? Perhaps try that again.

negru

I really would love to buy an electric car…. the tesla model S is superb, but this crappy bubble car is pathetic….. i would be embarrassed to drive it, be seen in ti, my wife hates how it looks, do these morons no do any market research???… i would rather burn more fossil fuel then be seen in this garbage! Give me sexy…. shit even hyandai looks fantastic compared to this car….

People/car manufactures get some balls and built a good looking car and not some conservative CRAP….. DAMN WHALE HUNTERS, stop wasting our time…..
Golfman

One factor people don’t often realize is that not only is electricity cheaper it is also better for our economy if we use electricity vs petrol. The same amount of carbon is probably emitted to power an electric car charged from a coal fired power station as is emitted from burning petrol in a combustion engine the electric car reduces how much oil we have to import. The coal powered fire station is powered by good old Aussie coal, employing Aussie workers instead of from oil imported from other countries. This means we keep more money in the country which helps us pay of labor’s debt etc., The extra tax the government earns by keeping that money cycling around the Australian economy can pay back the debt and when that’s paid off we can pump that money into solar and other renewable energy sources.
Elise

Charging an electric car with coal-fired power is BOTH cheaper AND less polluting than a petrol car. The reason is that electric motors are much more efficient than combustion motors. The oil companies would not like this to be common knowledge.

If you charge the car with solar power (either at home or with solar panels on the work carpark) then you solve BOTH peak oil AND climate change issues. We are looking at an idea whose time has come.
Rosy

I am keeping my 12 year old car until these electric cars come on the market, then I will buy an electric car. I will not take any part in the future destruction of our planet, as all that remains is for Russia to turn the beautiful white North Pole black with their oil spills.

subaru
Simone

I realy like the whole idea of an EV but i see the problem in its acceptance being its size (to Small) and the battery life per use. For some of us country folk 100 odd km is only a morning trip and if the car could power itself while being used would help with distance avaiable,
I do have an idea on how this can be accomplished but i wont be devaulging it here! Best of luck!
http://www.express-afg.com Reza

realy Nice…………
Chuck

I heard that the Chinese version is coming soon, and it cost just around $20,000~$25,000 , with a range of 150Km per charge, fast charge will take only 30 minutes, normal charge takes 6-8 hours with a household power supply, and the max speed is 120 km per hour.
I hope it can be exported to Australia, and lets kill the greedy oil companies.