Whilst some of us were hobnobbing about L.A. and driving a Tesla Roadster, others of us at ABG had to content ourselves with watching the Mitsubishi i MiEV drive around of New York city via a free download from iTunes. The fact that it was available in high definition (HD), as well as standard definition (SD), helped soothe the soul slightly. Of course it's not the same as actually driving the car in NYC, which we've also done, but the having the camera in a chase car helps give this film more of that 3rd person point of view. If you're one of the tens of millions of folks who has iTunes on your computer, click here. If you're not, click here and download it so you can watch. Thanks to Yanqetino for the tip!
If you live in the UK and have been pining for a chance to buy the i-MiEV all-electric city car when it appears on your shores, now is the time to register your interest with Mitsubishi. According to poster Nikki on the Electric Vehicle Discussion List (EVDL) Mitsubishi has told her (I'm assuming it's a "her") the cars may arrive as early as Q1 next year. Quantities will be extremely limited at first so if you are sure you want one you should take immediate action by clicking here and give them all your contact info. Curiously, Misubishi refers to the car as the "i-EV" on this site.
If you live in the U.S., there isn't anywhere to officially declare our purchasing intentions though unofficially you can always sign this petition to Mitsubishi and hope that gets their attention. We'll let you know if it does.
Mitsubishi has an admirable performance record with their off-road Pajero Evolution, racking up a record 12 Dakar wins since 1985. Why is the vehicle relevant to the green audience? This year, Mitsubishi has installed a new 260 horsepower three-liter turbo diesel V6 engine, which is a derivative of their previous gas-powered six cylinder engine. Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart considers this new engine part of a green initiative, with the team's new president, Osamu Nakayama, saying, "Our motor sports activity has taken a step up to establish the environmentally-friendly engineering strategy of Mitsubishi Motors." Mitsubishi believes that this new racing engine will further their research into non-food sourced biodiesel, which is something we can appreciate. They also have an Outlander chase vehicle running on diesel fuel. Hit the break for the press release.
The Mitsubishi i MiEV electric vehicle is not standing still. In an announcement from Tokyo today, Mitsubishi announced that the jellybean will be on display at the Beijing International Motor Show that starts next week. In the press release about this (which also tells us that about the new Lancer Evolution and is pasted after the jump), Mitsubishi calls the MiEV "a symbol of the company's approach to environmental issues and with a view to introduction on markets outside Japan." That sure sounds like the forces pushing to bring this car to production are not being silenced from within the company. This would be good - no, great - news.
Also, as an addition to our post the other day about the i MiEV videos the other day, tipsters Yanquetino and Amtoro point us to one more video featuring the cute little ride. This video shows the MiEV being unloaded from a transport truck and, as Yanquetino explains, a lot more than that:
Unless I am interpreting the numbers incorrectly, it looks like the engineers take the iMiEV on a hill-climbing test run, from 663m (2,175 ft.) to 2,450m (8,038 ft.), a total vertical ascent of 1,787m (5,863 ft.) over a distance of 28.7km (18 miles).
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the video occurs at 5 minutes, 15 to 25 seconds, when they are going back down the mountain. It shows that the power gauge is now below zero, in the negative numbers, thanks to regen. You can also see that the battery charge is at about 75%. And at 5:21 you'll actually see the charge move another bar closer to full.
I'll just add that the video seems to be dated 2007/11/07 (according to a date at the bottom of the player). Who knows where things stand today. Thanks to Yanquetino and Amtoro for the tips!
When we drove the jellybean on wheels (the Mitsubishi i MiEV) at the New York Auto Show last month, we were pretty swept away. This is one nice EV. Maybe we weren't quite as enthralled as the kids in this commercial for the all-electric car, but we're still in favor of the i MiEV making it to showrooms soon.
While my Japanese has gotten seriously rusty ever since I moved away from Japan in 2001, you don't even need my level of understanding to get something out of these videos. As our tipster Yanquetino wrote:
They are worth seeing, IMHO. The second one is especially informative. Despite the Japanese, you can still catch words like "braking," "CO2," "engine," "motor," "battery," etc. (I guess these are all imported from English). More importantly, they provide the specification numbers in Arabic numerals and symbols (14 hours full charge with 110V, 7 hours with 220, 30 minutes to 80% at charging stations, 160 km range, etc., etc.).
I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually port these movies over to English, but for now... they are understandable! Evidently Mitsubishi is committed to bringing the iMiEV to market in Japan. Let's hope that they'll bring them here soon afterwards!
(If you're in favor of the i MiEV in the U.S., don't forget to sign this petition.)
When I watched the commercial, I understood the part where the voiceover says "It's like a cell phone" when the woman plugs the car in. I think it also says "Running on zero" at the end, which means running on zero CO2 emissions. In this clip, a more technical description of what the i MiEV is all about, a vision of what driving an electric car could be like is laid out. I describe this clip after the jump.
London's Congestion Charge has drawn ire from some manufacturers, but others are doing something to help alleviate the "financial burden" the charges place on their customers. According to Jim Tyrrell, Mitsubishi's Managing Director, "The vast majority of our customers run a 4x4 for a specific purpose – not simply as a fashion item. We have worked hard to reduce the emissions levels wherever we can to help minimize any negative financial impact on the thousands of businesses that have chosen to use our pick-ups."
In line with this statement, new Mitsubishi L200s equipped with a manual transmission and not fitted with the Rallitronic power upgrade will now come with a 225 g/km CO2 emissions rating, placing them in a lower Congestion Charge band. Before the modifications to the L200, drivers would be forced to pay £25 per day for trips into London; now the charge will be £8 per day.
The TfL Congestion Charge on dual purpose double cab pick-ups will be effective starting October 6th, 2008 and will be retroactive, meaning that older pickups will face the same penalty as brand new ones.
Mitsubishi hinted at the fact that they were considering using their twin-clutch Sports Shift Transmission (SST) in an SUV when they showed their Concept-cX compact SUV concept in Frankfurt last year. While we don't have any news to report as to the Concept-cX, we do have an official announcement that the SST will be making its way into the Outlander, at least in the U.K. This is the same transmission that is found in the awe-inspiring Lancer Evolution, which is available in the U.S., so we have hopes that the Outlander will get this option in the states too. An Outlander equipped with the SST and paddle shifters will be shown at the Paris Motor Show in early October and will officially go on sale in the first quarter of 2009. When paired with the 2.2 Di-D engine, we're sure that the emissions and consumption numbers will be low.
The British tend to do things a little differently from the rest of us. They drive on the other side of the road with the steering wheel on the other side of the car (yes, I know they aren't the only country to do that, but work with me here). They often drink their beer without first chilling it. They eat steak and kidney pie (which if you've never tried it, is actually quite good!) and they came up with adding a second story to their buses. Now that Mitsubishi has launched the i mini-car in UK market, Smart has some new competition. The i is very much like a Smart ForTwo in layout and looks but with the addition of a second row seat and two extra doors. To see if the Smart could still compete, the crew at Fifth Gear (the other British car show) decided to create a four seater Smart. While the crew at Top Gear might have sliced the front end off two cars and welded them together nose to nose, the Fifth Gear team took a more distinctly British approach... the double-decker Smart. The beauty of the plan is that it maintains the Smart's perpendicular parking capability. When it comes to acceleration however ... not so much. And then there is the moose test. Check it all out after the jump.
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Mitsuibshi i MiEV (22 photos)
I drive a Ford Mustang GT; I'm Autoblog's resident HUMMER aficionado; and I think my favorite car in New York this year is a Japanese-market all-electric kei car. What is going on?
My dirty little secret (if you could even call it that) is that I'm alsoverymuchintokeicars. Often endearingly wacky-looking, the little city cars are packaging marvels, boasting roomy interiors despite their compact footprints -- and I love them. This year, the New York Auto Show is home to keis (the Mitsubishi i and Subaru R1e) as well as another JDM favorite, the Nissan Cube. What's interesting is that each one is on display as an all-electric vehicle. What was especially interesting to me is that Mitsubishi's electric i MiEV (it's pronounced "eye-meev", incidentally) was actually available for journalists to drive. So I drove it. Read on and watch video after the jump.
Here in the good ol' U.S. of A., police cars are usually the largest vehicles available, with full frames and big V8 engines. It seems that something smaller and more economical will do for London's Metropolitan Police. According to their tests, the newest Lancer with the 2.0 liter DI-D diesel engine would perform admirably for police duty, earning a "Class 1 Pass for performance, brake pad wear, handling and localised component durability," according to the report.
While we recognize that American roads are quite different from those in the U.K., we also believe that a more modern vehicle could serve our police just as well as their standard-fare Crown Vic. It's worked out pretty well for taxi drivers so far.
The Lancashire Constabulary has ordered four Mitsubishi Outlanders powered by the 2.2 liter diesel engine option for their "rural patrol" vehicles. According to Chris Malkin, Fleet & Transport Manager from Lancashire Constabulary, the Outlander won out due to its "high mpg with low carbon emissions, a reduced environmental impact and low running costs." Malkin also mentioned the Outlander's solid safety scores and high level of standard equipment as reasons that it was chosen.
We're not sure what vehicles were replaced, but we can be sure that the emissions were reduced in the switch. Each year, emissions standards get tougher so the air is cleaner as older fleets are replaced with new vehicles.
We've written before about Honda's production of solar cells, but did you know that Mitsubishi actually ranks as the world's sixth-largest manufacturer of PV cells? Currently, Mitsubishi Electric cranks out about 120 megawatts worth of solar cells a year, although they have the capacity for 150 megawatts. They plan to increase production to 230 annual megawatts by April of 2009. Solar cells are a hot commodity these days as the power industry, just like the automotive industry, is in the process of "greening" their image. In fact, Mitsubishi believes that the worldwide demand for solar cells could quadruple to 10,000 megawatts as early as 2010. If demand remains high, Mitsubishi Electric could increase its output to 500 megawatts by 2012.
Since Mitsubishi first introduced the i concept back in 2003 it has been the subject of much speculation. Would it come to America? Would it be sold in the U.K.? Is it even any good? And that's just the gas version. The electric version, the i MiEV, has caused even more confabulation. Soon we will have our own opportunity to get up close and personal with these little machines when they make their North American debut at the New York International Auto show this coming week.
Hopefully, we'll even get news from Mitsubishi about their plans for selling these cars in the U.S. I mean, they can't just wave them under our noses and then whisk them away back to Japan. I think they've noticed that 42,000 people have put deposits down on a Smart ForTwo that gets the same mileage as the i but holds two fewer passengers for about the same price. I also think we'll be paying close attention to what side of the car the steering wheel is on.
Mitsubishi has updated their business plan for the next few years and greener cars are a big part of the where the company wants to go. One important element is the desire to release the iMiEV electric car into the marketplace ahead of competitors. The company's forthcoming product plan also includes emphasis on developing clean diesels and dual clutch transmissions. They also want to adapt their mini-cars to oversea's use and export them globally. Earlier this year, Mitsubishi debuted their Concept-RA in Detroit which was powered by a new 2.2L four cylinder diesel. Given Mitsubishi's struggles in recent years, it will be interesting to see if this specific emphasis on cleaner, more efficient vehicles makes a difference.
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation have had a deal to jointly build mini-cars for a while now. In Tokyo yesterday, the two companies announced they would expand this agreement. Starting this fall, Mitsubishi will supply Nissan with the Pajero mini SUV on an OEM basis. Additionally, both companies will consider collaborating on small, light commercial vehicles. You can read the details in the press release after the jump, but note that the Pajero mini really is the kei-car-like SUV and not the larger one which you can see in the gallery below.
