imiev

Quebec's power utility is teaming up with Mitsubishi Motors to road-test the performance of up to 50 all-electric vehicles against the rigors of the Canadian climate and measure their infrastructure needs.

The $4.4 million project, which organizers say will be Canada's biggest trial yet of all-electric vehicles, is planned for this autumn near the Boucherville research facility of Hydro-Quebec, the provincial government-owned electricity utility.

"It will allow us to advance our knowledge of the technology and its integration into our grid, which in turn, will help us plan the necessary charging infrastructure for homes, offices and … Read more

So, you're a fan of Mitsubishi's iMiEV electric car. Who could blame you? It's a quirky looking 63-horsepower electric two-seater with a 100-mile range and no tailpipe emissions (probably due to its lack of a tailpipe). Plus, it looks like its from the future! But what if you wanted more interior volume for your, oh say, environmentally responsible delivery service? Then you're going to love the Mitsubishi iMiEV Cargo concept.

The Mitsubishi iMiEV Cargo concept takes the cute iMiEV and lops off its rear half, replacing it with a caboose of a small van or a … Read more

TOKYO -- In one month, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has taken 900 advance customer deposits for its i-MiEV electric vehicle.

The four-passenger car will go on sale next April in Japan. Mitsubishi began taking orders July 31.

Mitsubishi says it wants to sell about 6,000 i-MiEVs worldwide, including 5,000 in Japan, during the first year of sales. That comes to about 400 a month in Japan.

On Sept. 4, the car got an additional boost when France's PSA/Peugeot-Citroen SA announced plans to rebadge the Mitsubishi-made car in Europe starting in fall 2010 and sell 25,000 vehicles … Read more

Mitsubishi Motors has kicked its Drive@Earth global sustainability initiative into high gear. The company recently announced plans to develop the pure electric, four-passenger Mitsubishi i-MiEV (Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle) for global markets.

Mitsubishi partnered with the state of Oregon and Portland General Electric for the project. PGE is installing a network of charging stations across its service territory in Oregon and the addition of i-MiEVs further facilitates its support of next-generation electric vehicles. PGE currently has more than a dozen charging stations running.

"We are developing a model charging station infrastructure across our service territory to advance the … Read more

Formerly a dark horse, Mitsubishi appears to be taking the lead in the race to electrify. The Japanese automaker is starting sales this July of the all-electric iMiev in Japan, and signed this week a Memorandum of Understanding with the Principality of Monaco to receive a fleet of iMiev by the end of the year.

The Memorandum signified the Principalities intention to become a testing ground for the electric vehicle, and will be used by community services and businesses. Mitsubishi is gaining traction with other countries that are eager to jump on the (electric) bandwagon, and is testing the car … Read more

Mitsubishi, the car company that's more known for its tuner toys for boys than its low carbon footprint vehicles announced that its all-electric iMiev was selected as a finalist for the World Green Car competition, a category of the World Car of the Year awards. Other contenders include the Honda FCX Clarity and the Toyota IQ.

To be nominated for the title, the vehicle must use an advanced power plant technology that minimizes emissions, be in production or have at least 10 experimental prototypes close to production available for individual or media fleet testing, and be available in at … Read more

"Should Uncle Sam provide billions in loans and grants to a promising but unproven business? Or should the government wait for the market to sort things out before it backs a U.S. company?"

Those are questions posed in a BusinessWeek article last week. However, the questions are largely rhetorical: the U.S. Department of Energy already has a $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, and many car and battery companies are counting on these loans to aid their development and production of lithium ion batteries.

So it's not a question of "should," it's a question of "how?"

Lithium ion batteries will add at least $8,000 to the price of a production plug-in hybrid vehicle, according to BusinessWeek. However, that amount is probably on the low side when you consider that the Chevy Volt is predicted to cost a bit less than $40,000, a good portion of that price being the battery. Another manufacturer representative estimated that a lithium ion battery currently costs approximately $22,000, effectively putting the electric car out of reach to all but the well-heeled greenies. … Read more