According to a Financial Times online article, the answer to the question in the headline is yes. The EV revolution will require a lot of participants, and editor J. Soble summarizes the recent efforts from four Japanese automakers, the postal service, a utility company and the Japanese government, which are all working towards a future with a lot of electric cars on the road.

First, we have the expectations that Mitsubishi MiEV, Subaru R1e, Nissan-Renault will continue their EV projects in Japan (not just in Europe and Israel). Of course, we also await the plug-in version of the Toyota Prius. As for Japan's postal service, the company announced it will convert its 21,000 vehicle fleet to run on electrons. Utility Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has announced the development of new electric stations that could charge an EV enough to run for 40 km (26 miles) in five minutes, or up to 60 km (40 miles) in ten minutes. The company sees them in, for instance, supermarkets. The government is helping build the infrastructure as well: The Kanagawa prefecture, the region adjoining Tokyo, is providing 150 recharging stations in an effor to fulfil the Japanese Government's announcement that half of the new cars sold in 2020 will be electric. Thanks to Mark for the tip.


[Source: FT]

Mitsubishi must be enjoying seeing how much attention the all-electric iMiEV is getting. We've seen Helen Clark, the prime minister of New Zealand, take a ride in Tokyo, an HD view of the car on iTunes, and a video of the car driving in the mountains of Japan. These are just the beginning, as frequent tipster Yanquetino has found three more for our viewing pleasure.

First, a test drive by Popular Mechanics, which looks like it was filmed in New York City, probably during the auto show in March. In this clip we learn that the car uses 47 kWh when in main drive mode and 18 kWh in economy mode. Second, MSN Autos drives the car and shows just how much space is available in the rear (something we discovered when we drove the iMiEV in NYC). Will all your friends be calling you to come by with the iMiEV when they want to move? No, but if you've got to carry a chair or two around town, the iMiEV is able to do so. Lastly, a clip on YouTube from Japan where the host get a ride on a test track and the iMiEV races an ICE-powered i down the strip (guess who wins). While Yanquetino says he thinks the show might be designed for teenagers, this is just how TV shows are in Japan. The YouTube segment is the only one that's embeddable, and it's available after the jump.

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!

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 also very much into kei cars. 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.



All "live" photos Copyright © 2008 Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc.

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.



[Source: Kicking Tires]

iMiEV Sport

The last time I wrote about Mitsubishi's upcoming electric vehicle, the i MiEV, we were discussing just how bullish the automaker is on this EV. Still, all that enthusiasm was telling us that the i MiEV would come to dealers in 2010. Now, Automotive News' Kathy Jackson reports (subs req'd) that the i MiEV's release date in Japan might be moved up to 2009, with 1,000 vehicles possibly ready for sale at €17,000 ($24,800US) that year. This possible change comes courtesy of Mitsubishi President Osamu Masuko, so let's not discount it quickly. He told Jackson that "We are making preparations at the moment to accelerate" the on-sale date. As previously mentioned, the i MiEV will come to Europe and possibly the U.S. after its Japan debut. Bullish, indeed. A car like this can't come soon enough.

Related:

• The Sun drives the Mitsubishi MiEV and finds it acceptable
• CAR likes the Mitsubishi i-EV even better than the gas version
• Mitsubishi iMiEV gets 20-30 percent more range from new battery
• Tokyo Preview: More official pictures of Mitsubishi's i-MiEV sport
• Mitsubishi's i-EV moving towards production, available perhaps in 2008

[Source: Automotive News]

While other automakers turn choke resources to hybrid technology, Mistubishi is putting a lot of eggs into the pure-electric basket. Automotive News (subs req'd) says that Mistubishi's push is being driven by two things - the company doesn't have the funds to try and catch up with the hybrid crowd and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. president Osamu Masuko, who drives an EV himself.

Masuko told AN's David Sedgwick that, "We were not able to put all our resources into hybrids. We are climbing the mountain, but we are finding a different route to the summit." The result of this different route is, of course, the i MiEV, which we've pretty much discussed to death on these pages. When the EV hits Japanese showrooms in 2010 (and European ones after that), remember that this is a company that deciced to leap over the 2007 all-hybrid mentality. I'm betting this will pay off for the three diamonds.



[Source: David Sedgwick, Automotive News

The all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV is no stranger to us by this point (see links below). Our friends over at Autoblog have snapped a gallery full of pictures of the i-MiEV Sport version that's on display over at the Tokyo Motor Show - access it here.

Tech-On also brings us news that the i-MiEV has been given the go-ahead for field tests and is now much closer to commercial availability. The revamped i-MiEV is quieter, has lighter powertrain components and could be for sale by 2009 with lithium ion batteries. Details available at Tech-On but I'll relay these figures: 160 km range from a full charge that takes 7 hours (220V) or 14 hours (100V).

UPDATE: Domenick makes another good catch, found at the Car Connection, which gives slightly different numbers: "A microwave wireless recharging system is used. The transmitter is housed on the garage floor, and a receiver is mounted under the lithium ion batteries. Recharging takes 17 hours at 100 volts input. Using 200 volts cuts the time in half, and an 80-percent charge can be obtained in 35 minutes with a 200-volt quick charger."

Related:

• The Sun drives the Mitsubishi MiEV and finds it acceptable
• CAR likes the Mitsubishi i-EV even better than the gas version
• Mitsubishi iMiEV gets 20-30 percent more range from new battery
• Tokyo Preview: More official pictures of Mitsubishi's i-MiEV sport
• Mitsubishi's i-EV moving towards production, available perhaps in 2008

[Source: Autoblog, Tech-On, h/t to Domenick]

The Mitsubishi i MiEV stores energy for propulsion in a lithium ion battery pack that now has twenty to thirty percent more capacity than the last version. The battery is produced by a new joint venture company owned by GS Yuasa and Mitsubishi. With these latest cells, the i MiEV has had its range bumped from 81 miles to about 99-106 miles per charge. The battery company is not exclusive to Mitsubishi and they will make there energy storage systems available to any car-maker that's interested. Mitsubishi hopes to have a commercial launch of an electric car using these new lithium batteries by 2010.

[Source: Green Car Congress]

While there are electric cars available today, no large automaker is offering one. Mitsubishi might just be the first out of the gate with a plug-in car (not a hybrid) called the i-EV (aka i-MiEV). If sources withing the company are telling The Daily Telegraph in Australia the truth, the small electric car could be on sale as early as next year. Apparently, the electric "i" is off the concept stand and onto the streets as an evaluation vehicle. Mitsubishi has been working on this car for a while (see the collection of links below), so it's not crazy talk to suggest it will be available in 2008.

What kind of numbers might the i-MiEV boast? The Daily Telegraph says a 160 km (100 mile) range and a top speed of 130 km/h (about 80 mph). Standard home charging will happen overnight, but a 3-phase 200 volt 50kW QuickCharger will give you an 80 percent charge in half an hour.

Unfortunately, the Daily Telegraph story is only available on Lexis-Nexis, as far as I can tell, so no link.

Related:

• Tokyo Preview: More official pictures of Mitsubishi's i-MiEV sport
• Tokyo Preview: Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport
• Brits might get Mitsubishi's all-electric i-Miev in 2011
• Mitsubishi delivers i MIEV to Chugoku Electric Power Co.
• Mitsubishi abandons in-wheel motors for electric car, still no plans to bring it to the U.S.

[Source: The Daily Telegraph (Australia)]

Ahh, the eco-car next to energy-generating windmills. Is there anything more standard than that these days? Mitsubishi is willing to repeat the theme one more time with the latest batch of promo images of the Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport. You can read about the details of the i MiEV Sport in our post from the other day, so I won't clutter this with too much info on this battery-powered 2+2 coupe. Just enjoy the eye candy, if cute EVs are your thing. You can also discuss how much has changed from the earlier version of the MiEV, a car that somehow looks even more cartoony that the one above.

Related:

• Tokyo Preview: Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport

[Source: Mitsubishi]

Mitsubishi's serious entrant in the all-electric category, the i Miev, might be finding a home outside Japan. While the company plans to offer the BEV in the middle of 2010 in Japan, the British Car Magazine says that "UK bosses are secretly preparing to launch it here by early 2011."

A more conventional MItsubishi i (Miev stands for Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle) powered by a 0.7-liter petrol engine, will be sold starting in about ten days. Mitsubishi's UK managing director Jim Tyrrell told the magazine that they expect to sell about 2000-3000 electric i cars in the British islands. No specific price is set, but the petrol version costs £9084 and the BEV-version may be £3000-4000 more.

Related:

• Mitsubishi delivers i MIEV to Chugoku Electric Power Co.
• 300 Mitsubishi "i" minicars will go on sale in the UK in July
• Mitsubishi abandons in-wheel motors for electric car, still no plans to bring it to the U.S.
• Mitsubishi spokesman says there's no plan to sell electric cars in U.S.
• Mitsubishi Motors builds new research EV, "i MiEV" for joint research with power companies

[Source: Car Magazine (UK)]

Click image to enlarge

As part the ongoing testing with the "i MIEV" research vehicle, Mitsubishi has delivered one of the cars to the Chugoku Electric Power Co. Earlier this year, cars were delivered to Tokyo Electric Power and Kyushu Electric Power as well. The power companies are evaluating the kei-car-based EVs and testing them to gauge their compatibility with and overall impact on the electrical infrastructure. The car delivered last Friday is finished in yellow with white doors and "hood" (the car's motor, etc is actually mid/rear-mounted), which are also emblazoned with cutesy Japanimation/Hello Kitty-esque critters. Also: dig the lightning bolt icon on the erstwhile fuel filler door.

[Source: Mitsubishi]

Mitsubishi's annoucement of the "i MiEV" electric vehicle based on their "i" minicar has so far caused a bit of a stir. First, Automotive News reported that the car would be headed for the States. Then CNN said that the report was incorrect. Then, in a new article on Monday, AutoWeek, a sister publication of Automotive News, stated that Mitsubishi was still planning to bring the electric car to North America.

In all the confusion, we contacted Dan Irvin, director of corporate communications and public relations for Mitsubishi Motors North America, ourselves to get an official confirmation. In his response, Mr. Irvin said, "There is no current plan to bring an electric vehicle to the United States. MMC in Tokyo has clarified this point with Mr. Treece, the author of the article that you reference... Thanks for checking with us."

That aside, the development of the "i MiEV" is still moving forward. The rest of AutoWeek's article from Monday reports that Mitsubishi has abandoned the four in-wheel motors for a single motor which will power the two rear wheels. The reasons for this come down to conversion cost as the more traditional layout requires fewer modifications. Supposedly, the only major change to the "i" minicar's chassis comes in the form of reinforcing the rear cross member to support the weight of the batteries and motor.

As for timetables, Mitsubishi forsees a relatively quick development process. Next month, they'll begin joint research on the car with three Japanese electric utility companies. Currently, the EV gets an 80-mile range from its 330-volt lithium-ion batteries which provide 16 kilowatt-hours of energy. By the fall of 2007, the company hopes to supply five utilities with several dozen test-fleet cars that are capable of a 100-mile range using a 20-kwh power supply.

[Source: AutoWeek / Mitsubishi Motors North America]