Mitsubishi iMiEV

anuary 8, 2009 - According to unconfirmed reports from Japanese news sources, Mitsubishi Motors will begin supplying electric cars to PSA/Peugeot-Citroen Group as early as next year. Japan's fifth-largest carmaker could supply as many as 10,000 Mitsubishi i-MiEV passenger electric cars a year to the French automaker by 2011 on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) basis.

But is the i-MiEV ready for the prime-time mass market? Pretty darn close, based on our recent test-drive in a prototype of the company's battery-powered subcompact. Its clever design, attention to detail, and a solid powertrain could make electric driving as routine as picking up the kids.

Photos by John Voelcker/HybridCars.com. All rights reserved.

Interior

The car was the i-MiEV, a “production intent” prototype of the car Mitsubishi plans to sell in Japan later this year. The company let journalists drive the car a few weeks ago during the Electric Drive Transportation Association’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. It is adapted from a Japanese kei car, a special class of cars largely restricted to Japan with limited dimensions (3.4 m long, 2 m high, 1.5 m wide), engine size (0.66 liter), and power (63 horsepower), in exchange for local parking and tax benefits.

Though tiny by US standards, the i-MiEV’s egg-shaped five-door body makes it appear larger than it is. The “i” model on which it’s based gets kudos for the interior room it manages to pack into the standard kei dimensions. The gasoline car’s “rear midship” engine sits on its side under the rear seat, giving the “i” the longest cabin in its class, with space freed up at the front for passengers.

Four decent-sized adults fit adequately—if not extravagantly—into the i-MiEV, and a 6-foot-tall passenger in the rear seat had easily 3 or 4 inches of headroom above him. Though few of us wanted to drive cross-country in it, the i-MiEV seemed almost as spacious as a Honda Fit—and carried four people far better than a Mini Cooper. The most noticeable constraint, in fact, was the tight shoulder room—the i-MiEV is more than a foot narrower than the Mini.

Performance

The electric version replaces the “i” engine, transmission, and fuel tank with a 16-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack, a 47-kilowatt motor producing 133 foot-pounds of torque, an inverter, and the car’s power electronics. Claimed maximum speed is 81 mph, with a range of roughly 100 miles on the Japanese test cycle, and 75 miles on the US cycle.

On the road, carrying four adults, the car hardly leapt off the line when the light changed. But it kept up with traffic, and like any EV, power delivery was smooth and linear. The tiny car rode well, though firmly, crashing somewhat over cracks and joints in the streets. With a very short turning circle and a center of gravity lower than the gas equivalent—due to the low-mounted battery pack—the i-MiEV handled perfectly for quick urban cut-and-thrust driving.

The car offers three driving modes: Standard, Eco, and “B”. The Eco mode limits the engine’s output to 18 kilowatts (one third of peak power), to increase the range of a single charge—and the decline in performance was substantial. “B” mode added more regenerative braking on downhill stretches and when the car is coasting, to recharge the pack more aggressively. In that mode, the regeneration felt “grabby,” and far less smooth than, for example, the highly praised new system in the 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid. Unfortunately, the infotainment screen wasn’t activated, so no power-flow diagrams or numeric data were available.

Availability & Timeline for Mitsubishi i-MiEV

Mitsubishi plans to sell roughly 2,000 i-MiEVs in Japan this year, with fleet sales taking priority. Several i-MiEVs have been delivered to California utility fleets, including those of Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, for evaluation. But the right-hand-drive i-MiEV test vehicles were never designed to meet US safety or equipment standards, so they must ultimately be returned to Japan—or be crushed—because they cannot legally be sold in North America.

David Patterson, senior manager of regulatory affairs and certification, Mitsubishi Research and Design America, said the company is looking seriously at whether to certify the “i” car for sale in North American markets. Among other changes, the company would likely widen the track by 3 or 4 inches for stability at speed. Roughly 200 of the first year’s i-MiEVs will be sold in the United Kingdom, however, where its right-hand-drive is not a problem.

Price is not a question Mitsubishi discusses. Patterson noted that the Japanese government offers incentives of almost $16,000 off the retail price, as well as reductions in road tax and registration fees. Last month, he suggested to trade publication Ward’s Auto that the US government should offer at least $10,000 in incentives to buyers of electric vehicles—higher than the $7,500 Federal tax credit authorized last October.

Incentives or not, right now, the i-MiEV is the world’s most polished four-seat, zero-emissions production car. It may not hold that title for long, but after years of primitive, plastic EVs from under-funded startups and importers, it’s nice to see a “real EV” from a genuine automaker at last.