The electric car war rages on and the latest entrant is Mitsubishi’s new model year version of the i-MiEV that was revealed today in Japan. The most important changes that Mitsubishi made to its all-electric city car is the introduction of a new lower-cost base model and improvements to the standard version in order to extend its driving range.
The new budget model is called the ‘M’ and its price comes down to 2.6 million Yen (US$32,070 -€22,170) or 1,880,000 Yen (US$23,190 – €16,040) after Japanese government subsidies. It is powered by an electric motor producing 41-horses and has a reduced driving range of 120 kilometers (75 miles).
The higher-level ‘G’, which will be available for order in mid-August, is equipped with a more powerful electric motor delivering 64HP and can travel for 180 kilometers (112 miles) on a full charge. It is priced at 3.8 million Yen (US$44,400 – €30,700) or 2.6 million Yen (US$32,070 -€22,170) after Japanese government subsidies.
The outgoing i-MiEV was priced at 3.98 million Yen and could run for 160 kilometers miles (100 miles) on a single charge.
To increase the driving range per charge of the i-MiEV ‘G’, which features the same 64HP electric motor as the original model, Mitsubishi linked the brake pedal usage to the regenerative braking system while also fitting an Active Stability Control (ASC) system as standard.
Mitsubishi said that since the original i-MiEV went on sale for consumers in April 2010, it has delivered 4,000 cars in Japan and has exported more than 10,000 units including those supplied to PSA Peugeot Citroen. The company plans to sell around 6,000 examples of the updated i-MiEV in Japan and 25,000 unit worldwide within the next year.