Mitsubishi I-Miev 2011 News

... so carmakers are turning to new-wave plug-in hybrid vehicles as a stop-gap measure. Mitsubishi - which is marketing Australia's first volume electric car, the i-MiEV - says it will release a production version of its PX-MiEV SUV concept as a plug-in hybrid by 2013. The Outlander-based wagon is a range-extender - it can use its petrol engine or an overnight plug-in system to recharge its batteries for the electric motors - similar in concept to the Holden Volt. Though the PX may be beaten to the showrooms by the Volt (expected in 2012), it will be first large vehicle that can source power from an internal combustion engine, an onboard generator, or batteries. It will also better suit the lifestyle of Australians, says Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd vice president of corporate strategy, Paul Stevenson."(With small-range all-electric cars) we're asking Australians to make lifestyle changes," he says. "We like bigger cars, like SUVs. But with plug-in hybrid and electric technology, it doesn't matter what size car you drive.  The PX is a vehicle that can use electric power for commuting and the petrol and all-wheel drive system for the highways and country driving." But Stevenson still terms plug-in technology as the "interim stage" in the march towards full electric power.  "We want to get to the stage where we have drivetrain options on models," he says. "That is, plug-in, hybrid, electric, petrol and diesel."  Ultimately, Mitsubishi sees all-electric vehicles as likely future personal transport.  It's vital that to get there, the aspects of battery cost, driving range and charging time are addressed," he says. "It is very difficult at the moment to achieve all three. Which is more important? We see range and charge time as being most important.  To get the cost down, we are using alliances with PSA (Peugeot and Citroen's parent) to make more electric cars. "The more we make gives us greater volumes which lowers the cost of the batteries - that should take three years."  Stevenson says MMAL's first fast-charge station for electric cars - primarily its own i-MiEV hatchback - can deliver 50 per cent of battery charge within 15 minutes. Mitsubishi has leased 115 i-MiEVs to Australian governments and authorities and will offer cars to private users from June next year.  The i-MiEVs will be leased, not sold, to private motorists, says MMAL president and CEO Masahiko Takahashi. Australia will get an upgraded i-MiEV next year but it won't be the wide-bodied version that is to be leased into the US next year.  Takahashi says the left-hand drive body is too difficult to be adapted for right-hand drive markets such as Japan and Australia.

 ... a SUV powered by a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain and can run on batteries alone for shorter commutes, as well as be recharged from the domestic electricity grid. The PX-MiEV comes packed with technologies that boost efficiency and cut emissions.  It even comes with a double dose of ‘cocochi’ – which is Japanese for ‘cozy’.  In other words, it’s a crossover that’s had all vestigial traces of ruggedness removed and is instead fully compatible with, and adapted to, the demands of urban automotive duties. A 1.6-litre petrol four provides the internal combustion-based motivation, together with a parallel system of electric drive from two permanent magnet synchronous motors. A bank of batteries allows the PX-MiEV to run up to 50km on batteries alone. The PX-MiEV uses an E-4WD system that shuffles torque between the wheels at will, using the S-AWC (super all-wheel control) and E-AYC (electric-powered active yaw control) systems more at home in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. A new centre rear differential setup – not from the Evo – tweaks the E-AYC’s drive distribution at the rear. An electronically controlled air suspension system gives the driver three ride height settings, depending on the size of the speed humps and traffic calming measures in front.

It's a motor show, but not the way we've ever known them in the past.  This one is limited to just 17 cars.The reason why there are so few cars involved is that they must all be green cars.  And that's the reason it has such a big future.As time passes, and carmakers expand their green fleets with all sorts of lean-burn petrol engines, high-tech diesels, hybrids and electric cars, the Green Zone Drive promises to become a significant event for people who want to change their motoring priorities.The event is the idea of a couple of motor industry veterans led by John Kananghinis, formerly a public relations chief and marketing boss at BMW Australia.  It's not just a stand-and-look show, either.The idea behind the Green Zone Drive is to have people get behind the wheel and actually drive the cars, around a special circuit laid out in the centre of Melbourne.  It's claimed as a world first and a major innovation in green motoring.The event has picked up a lot of backing, from the Victorian government and Melbourne city council to EPA Victoria, Future Climate Australia, Shell and even the driver training experts at Murcotts.  Nine carmakers are involved, which is not very many with more than 50 brands on sale in Australia today.But the number is sure to grow and the current list - Audi, BMW, Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Mini, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Volvo - shows a good spread across sizes, prices and classes.The obvious hero car is the first plug-in electric car on sale in Australia, the Mitsubishi iMiEV.  But the spread of cars runs from the locally-made Toyota Camry hybrid to the Volvo C30 DRIVe, the super-economy Ford Fiest ECOnetic and a range of diesels wearing Audi, BMW, Mini and even Hyundai badges.Of course, the Toyota Prius is also there.  The course for the drive takes green car fans around Melbourne's Docklands region and its no coincidence that it starts and finishes outside the Fox Classic Car Collection, home to one of Australia's best lineups of landmark cars.The event runs for just eight days but it's a start and has obvious potential to expand in coming years, not just in the car lineup but also its location. It could easily go on an Australia-wide tour and perhaps even head overseas.If you want to know more, take a look at www.greenzonedrive.com.au

And it seems they’ll have to do the same for the other of the first generation of mass-market electric vehicles being rolled out, the Mitsubishi iMiEV. Mitsubishi announced this month that its iMiEV plug-in electric car arriving in July will only be available on a lease basis. Now Nissan says it will do the same when its Leaf EV arrives in 2012.Nissan Australia CEO Dan Thompson says leasing a package that includes a charging system installed in the home would be "the most favourable option"."The problem is customer's range anxiety," he says, pointing out that motorists will need a dedicated charging system in their home to satisfy concerns about the limited 160km range of the vehicle. It will be important to package the whole thing with charging hardware for the home. (The lease arrangement) will most likely be offered exclusively through Nissan's finance company."The vehicle goes on sale in Japan and the US in December with US buyers able to choose between a lease package and an outright purchase."Over the next six months we will be ale to see the data about what has worked in the US," Thompson says. "This is a 100 per cent new business model for us. We won't know the answers until we see the rollout overseas."The vehicle will cost about $42,000 after the US government's $7500 cashback subsidy. Nissan chief operating officer Toshiyuki Shiga says the Japanese government is offering a cash subsidy of half the price differential over a conventionally powered car of the same size. In Japan, the Leaf price is about $48,000 and the government subsidy is $9800."After 2012 we will expand production overseas and the costs will come down," Shiga says. "Over the next six years the cost of gasoline powered cars and EV will be about the same. In the beginning it will be difficult to sell because of the cost, but when the cost comes down the government incentives will go."Thomson says Nissan Australian is about 'a year away' from settling on prices. 

Hybrid cars and plans are popping up everywhere, from Porsche and Ferrari at the top end in Europe to the dozens of enthusiastic new carmakers led by Geely and BYD - the name means Build Your Dreams - in China.  We are also seeing far more efficiency in everyday petrol-powered cars, with a range of new technologies to boost economy and cut emissions.A growing number of new cars are now arriving with engine-stop systems for traffic-light efficiency, as well as driver-advisor systems to help pick the right gear. There is an Audi A4 in the Carsguide garage this week which does both and, even with a turbocharged petrol engine, is running fuel economy in the 7 litres/100km range.There is much more to come on the petrol-power front and the Toyota Prius, perhaps surprisingly since it's a hybrid, shows the way. Its 1.8-litre petrol engine is the first in the world without any sort of power-sapping drive belt for the parasitic add-ons, with electrically operated power steering and airconditioning, an on-demand alternator and an electric water pump.Expect all this, and soon, on cars for you.  Diesel engine development is going ahead very rapidly with most European brands - Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz among them - touting some sort of Blue technology. So blue is the new green for diesels.The best new diesels are much quieter than in the past and, thanks to the massive advantages of turbocharging, they have huge pulling power. Torque rules in the real world, where you need punch for overtaking and stoplight drags, and that makes diesels the surprising performance choice for a growing range of vehicles.It's easy to go on and on about the engine changes, from Benz's switch from superchargers to turbochargers and BMWs impressive efficiency developments to the small-capacity winners from brands such as Nissan, but the long-term green path is into electric cars.  Australia has yet to see its first commercial electric car but the race is really on now, with Mitsubishi and Tesla expected to both have plug-in cars on the road before the end of the year.An electric Smart will arrive sometime in 2011 and Subaru is keen to have a battery car in Australia as soon as possible, with other brands also working on plans.  But the green machine will run off the rails if governments do not act - and act soon - to give them support. Electric cars need plug-in points, but that's the obvious and easy stuff being pushed today by the Better Place organisation and many others.The real key to sales of electric cars is some sort of Federal incentive, like the ones in Europe and the USA. Nobody by a full-on greenie is going to pay around $70,000 for a Mitsubishi iMiEV when a petrol-powered Colt, which is a similar size and does a similar job, starts from $15,740.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

It does not plan to sell the battery-powered compacts, but will lease them to customers for $1740 a month over a three-year term. It intends to take the cars back at the end of the lease, although it could still sell them.Mitsubishi will beat Tesla, an American electric-car start-up which also intends to have its plug-in Roadster on local roads before the end of 2010.  The first iMiEV owners will be decided early in July and Mitsubishi Motors Australia is canvassing potential owners who can help to 'co- promote' the car in Australia.The final deal for the iMiEV was confirmed by Mitsubishi's global president, Osamu Masuko, when he visited Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, infastructure and transport minister Anthony Albansese and climate change minister Penny Wong in Canberra yesterday.  Speaking in Sydney after the meeting, Masuko said the introduction of electric cars and the rate of sales will rely on government investment and support, particularly on establishing fast-charge stations.He stopped short of calling for cash incentives for buyers, but admitted that sales of the iMiEV in Japan and Europe have been boosted by government financial incentives. In Japan, the car sells for around $33,000 after the government incentive.Masuko also said the price of the iMiEV will fall rapidly as production grows from 1400 a year to more than 40,000 by 2012, perhaps even halving within three years as higher volumes allow the company to cut component costs - especially on the battery pack.  "In the long term we cannot rely fully on government incentives," he said.Masuko also used his visit to Australia to confirm two new product plans for Mitsubishi, a new baby car called 'global small' and a plug- in electric SUV which should be ready for showrooms in 2012.

The target price for the first of the Chinese plug-ins is around $25,000, a bottom line which would give the new imports a massive advantage over cars such as the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Smart, which are expected to have a bottom line beyond $50,000 in showrooms.Several importers are targeting the Chinese electric powerhouse, BYD, but it's the Chery brand which is most likely to hit the $25,000 target with a plug-in city car.  "We want an electric car by 2011," says Neville Crichton, head of the local Chery importer, Ateco Automotive."We plan to have an electric car in 2011 and I'm very confident we will.  The Chinese will be very, very important in the electric car market."Crichton accepts that electric cars will have limitations but he believes it could be a major selling point for start-up Chinese brands.  "If the price is cheap enough, you can do serious volume," he says."If you're going to do electric cars in any volume it's got to be below $45,000. If would have to be in the mid $20,000s to do any volume."  And he is also prepared to take a swipe at hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius and upcoming Honda CR-Z, which have yet to win mainstream acceptance in Australia."Hybrids are just a speed hump on the road to electric cars," Crichton says.  The first electric trial cars have already arrived in Australia, with the i-MiEV leading the way and already targeted at Federal and state governments, as well as green-focussed organisations and major city fleet operators.Subaru has also had a plug-in city car in Australia, Mini is planning a local promotional tour and Smart is on-track for sales in late 2011 or early in 2010.  Every major Chinese maker has at least a couple of electric car concepts on display at Auto China 2010 with Geely, which comes to Australia later this year through Perth-based importer John Hughes, dominating the green-power action.Chery also has plug-in concepts, and has a tie-up with the Better Place organisation working on new infrastructure for Australia, but it is the BYD brand which is the target for serious electric-car fans.  The BYD brand - its slogan is Build Your Dreams - is the fifth-largest local maker in China but also the world's second-largest maker of lithium-ion batteries.No-one has the local agency yet for BYD and Crichton is reluctant to commit his Ateco organisation."We talk to everyone. We are not representing BYD," he says.  I can't comment - I'm not about to."

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV’s price has not yet been decided, but it is expected to hit the showrooms next year at a cost substantially lower than its current asking price overseas of about $60,000.Mitsubishi Motors Australia corporate affairs vice-president Paul Stevenson confesses that the price of the i-MiEV "will be expensive up front". However, when the first two vehicles rolled off the ship at the Port of Brisbane recently, outgoing Mitsubishi boss Rob McEniry said it would not be as expensive or as big a premium over comparative-sized cars as the hybrid Toyota Prius."I can't tell you what the price is yet, but the price of electric vehicles is coming down rapidly and that is why we are cautious of saying the price now," McEniry said. "When it gets into volume production it will be affordable - not much more expensive than comparative-sized cars. But running costs will make them cheaper over the whole of the life of the vehicle."Stevenson says Mitsubishi Motors Australia has not been able to get a commitment on volume from Japan yet, which hampered their decision on price."The thing is that over time and not a lot of time as the volume ramps up production meets demand," he says. "At the moment demand outstrips supply so the price is high. As volume ramps up we will see that price decrease."He cited the example of plasma TV technology. "In 2003 a 40-inch plasma TV cost about $27,000 and now they are about $800," he says.Stevenson says government incentives could also help reduce the price and encourage people to go to EV."Mitsubishi is not talking to government with any numeric value in mind, but we are speaking about policy issues," he says. "In France (EV motorists) can use transit lanes, they have special parking spaces and new office blocks have to have recharging infrastructure in place. In Paris there is a range of free public EV charging points for cars and scooters. The Japan government subsidises half the premium over the compatible petrol model and in UK they are offering a $10,000 subsidy for each EV."

Mitsubishi boss Rob McEniry is making that promise as the company's first two electric cars roll off a container ship in Brisbane. The two Mitsubishi i-MiEV (Mitsubishi Electric Vehicle) models have arrived for an 'education and evaluation process' but not for sale, McEniry says. The vehicles will be issued to media and government officials for evaluation and to "start the public education process of future mobility and propulsion". McEniry says 40 more i-MiEVs will arrive later this year. "Governments will be the first customers in the market," he says. "I can't tell you what the price is yet, but the price of electric vehicles is coming down rapidly and that is why we are cautious of saying the price now. By the time the next batch arrives next year we will be ready to tell." "When it gets into volume production it will be affordable; not much more expensive than comparable sized cars. But running costs will make them cheaper over the whole of the life of the vehicle. I can tell you it will not be as expensive or as big a premium over comparative-sized cars as the (hybrid) Prius." Mitsubishi i-MiEV project manager Ashley Sanders says the car could be fully charged off the mains power supply in seven hours and would run for 160km on one charge. A quick-charge station would charge the battery to 80 per cent of its capacity in 30 minutes, but the infrastructure was not available here yet, he says. The 1080kg city car has batteries under the floor which will last 'the life of the car', or a minimum of 10 years, he says. Sanders says the first evaluation vehicle that arrived here last year for homologation and testing had experienced 'no major problems or battery overheating'. McEniry says the i-MiEV will "not only be able to plug in, but take its power when the grid is at its lowest demand. And the next generation model will be able to put back electricity that it has created into the grid at high demand times". The two cars here for evaluation are Japanese specification, but the models to be sold here will be European production models with higher specification. "They will arrive as one spec first up, but as volume increase, we will offer different specs," McEniry says. Queensland Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Kate Jones says drivers could get incentives such as cheaper rego, be able to drive solo in transit lanes and get cheap or free city parking to switch to electric cars. The incentives are being considered under the government's new electric vehicle policy to be released by the end of the year. Jones says the arrival of the i-MiEV would draw attention to Queensland's electric vehicle policy. "We will look at a number of incentives for people to switch to electric vehicles," she says. "We are hoping Queensland can be in the forefront of electric vehicles when they hit the road in 2011. I was one of the first to drive a Prius and I still do, and I will put up my hand to drive one of these." She says electric vehicles would help reduce pollution in big cities. "Personal vehicles represent 80 per cent of the transport emissions in Queensland," she says. "If we see a significant shift to electric cars we would see that drop. Therefore we would look at incentives such as cheaper registration ... use of transit lanes as they do in California and I'm sure Brisbane City Council would look at the issue of (discounted) parking. We do not want to go into this without looking at all the issues. We also need to look at the waste products as part of our policy."

They want Canberra to make a commitment similar to the ones in many other countries, including the recent 5000 pound ($8200) incentive provided by the British government to buyers of plug-in electric cars.The latest British commitment follows support deals in most European countries, from Spain-France-Italy to Sweden-Finland-Denmark. Converts to electric cars in the USA also get a tax break worth between $2500 and $7500 ($2765-8295), depending on the capacity of the battery."Pretty much everywhere else in the world is paying a subsidy. The government needs to look at a general subsidy. That is the only way you're going to get ordinary people into the cars," says David McCarthy of Mercedes-Benz Australia, which intends to have an electric Smart ForTwo in its lineup in 2011. "We'd like to think we can get the electric Smart next year, and Mercedes-Benz is also doing a test on an electric Vito van."Mitsubishi is also pushing hard on the electric front with its iMiEV, as Nissan works towards local sales of the Leaf and Subaru crunches numbers on its plug-in Stella and BMW Group considers both the Mini-E and a plug-in 1 Series.McCarthy says the Smart should be one of the first battery cars on Australian roads but Mercedes-Benz wants to see a commitment from government at all levels. "The running costs on these cars are low, but they are expensive to buy. We don't have an indication yet on the price of the Smart, but it isn't going to be cheap so people do need some encouragement," he says.Most of the planning electric cars will be in the $50,000-$60,000 range in Australia, even though most are tiny city runabouts and several contenders only have two seats. Mitsubishi is planning to join Mercedes in lobbying the Federal government, most likely through the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries."There is an electric vehicle working group in the FCAI, but I don't think the lobbying has started yet," McCarthy says.