Following the presentation of the Mia Electric brand at last year’s Geneva Motor Show, the newly formed company announced plans to showcase its zero-emission vehicles for the first time in the United Kingdom at this year’s EcoVelocity motor show that runs from September 8 to 11.
The Electric Microbus, which will reach UK showrooms in the first quarter of 2012, was designed by the former head of design at Volkswagen, Murat Günak, and will be available in three configurations including the standard, three-seat short wheelbase model and two extended versions, the four-seat Mia L and the Mia box van with a cargo capacity of 1,500 liters.
“The mia has been designed with cities like London firmly in mind and we consider the UK as a priority market for us (alongside France and Germany),” said Richard Deslandes, head of UK sales at Mia.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response we’ve received since we launched in Geneva and now have 3000 confirmed orders. Production started in June and we will be producing 4000 vehicles this year to meet this initial demand. We hope to ramp up production at our factory in Cerizay, France, to a total capacity of about 14,000 by the end of 2012.”
All three Microbus models are motivated by an 18kW electric motor mounted at the rear of the car that gives a top speed of 68 mph (110km/h), while the standard 12kWh lithium iron phosphate batteries which can be fully charged in five hours, promise a driving range of 120km to 130km (75-80 miles).
Mia said the pure-electric Microbus will carry a starting price of £22,000 after the Government’s £5,000 incentive subsidy, with all three models being exempt from the congestion charge in London.
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