The Mitsubishi iMiEV – also badged as the Peugeot iOn and Citroën C-Zero in Europe – has proved to be as ground-breaking as any of the recent additions to the market, and it has sold in encouraging numbers since its release. Here are four reasons why it, and others like it, will continue to set the pace in the next few years and become a popular choice with fleet managers around the globe.

Effect on the environment
It goes without saying that electric cars are likely to be the backbone of the modern vehicle’s future, especially now that battery charging times are improving. There was a time when the ratio of battery/gasoline usage was deemed to be totally impractical, but this has been gradually evolving for the better lately. It may be some time, of course, before the everyday family car will run on 100% electricity, but that day is surely coming.

Fuel costs
It seems the price of gasoline is almost permanently on the increase these days, and this is a particular problem for drivers of larger vehicles. While the world still struggles to cope with the effects of a long-term recession, any opportunity to save money simply has to be taken seriously. While battery recharging is never likely to be free, it does at least represent a chance to find some truly significant savings.

Maintenance costs
Needless to say, fuel isn’t the only running cost that keeps a car on the road. Anyone who has recently had to have any of their fleet vehicles repaired will know all about the exorbitant price of maintenance, and of how it can affect the family’s finances. The good news is that electric cars have fewer moving parts to worry about, so there is less opportunity for things to go wrong. Maintenance will still be an issue, of course, but not perhaps a pressing one.

Noise pollution
Even the most modern gasoline-engine cars are somewhat noisy, especially when they are roaring along the motorways and autobahns of the world. The electric motor is almost silent, and this comes as welcome news to people who live beside fast, busy roads. When the day arrives when we are all driving electric vehicles – and it surely will – the noise pollution levels of cities and towns all over the world will drop dramatically.

The recall only affects 49 vehicles in Canada, but it’s important because it can cause the airbags not to deploy in a crash. If the sensor malfunctions, the SRS warning light would come on indicating there is an issue with the air bag system. Transport Canada says dealers will replace the sensors with updated versions.

This is Mitsubishi Recall number SR-12-003

Canadian Owners: http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/7/VRDB-BDRV/SEARCH/RecallDetail.aspx?lang=eng&mk=0&md=0&fy=0&ty=9999&ft=&ls=0&sy=0&rn=2012252&cf=SearchResult&pg=-1

US Owners: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov

The Government of Canada Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver recently announced the fuel-efficiency of new vehicles in 10 different classes of cars and trucks.

“These manufacturers are developing the latest vehicle technologies to help Canadians reduce their greenhouse gas emission” Minister Oliver said.

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV was rated as having the highest fuel economy of any subcompact sold in Canada. Since subcompact is the smallest class, that means the Mitsubishi i-Miev has better fuel economy than any other vehicle currently available in Canada.

The Mitsubishi i-Miev is an all electric, four passenger subcompact hatchback designed to be efficient and ecological to drive.

electric vehicle owners will soon have less to worry about as they travel the roads in Québec Canada as the first public network charging stations is about power up.

by March, the first 90 charging stations will be operating at over 60 sites in Montréal and Québec city areas. The 90 stations will be joined by 30 more stations in summer of 2012, bringing the total to 120 charging stations in the network. The charging stations will be compatible with all electric vehicles including the Mitsubishi i-Miev, Nissan Leaf, and Ford Focus Electric.

“We are following the rhythm of the arrival of electric vehicles in Québec,” says Hydro-Quebec’s senior director of strategic planning.

Hydro-Quebec has partnered up with the transport agency of Québec to create the charging network. They are also testing a rapid charge unit, that can charge the battery to the percent in about 15. The rapid charges will later be corporative into the network.

Although there is much info to support that electric vehicle owners will do most of their charging at home and at work, range anxiety is affecting consumers desire to purchase electric vehicles and charging networks like this will help alleviate those feelings.

Users of the electric vehicle charging network will have access to a 24 hour help line. The health service will be provided free of charge. If necessary, CAA can reset the charging station remotely or offer towing in extreme cases.

Use of the charging network will cost $2.50 per use, or $25 for 10 charges, regardless of how long the Mitsubishi i-Miev is being charged.

In a slightly confusing press release, Mitsubishi UK states that all franchise dealerships will have the Mitsubishi i-MiEV by March 2012. A few paragraphs later, Mitsubishi says that approved dealerships will be set up for electric vehicles by the end of March. Either way, Mitsubishi plans on rapidly expanding it’s Mitsubishi i-Miev sales network to include as many dealerships as possible in a move to make Mitsubishi the largest electric vehicle dealer in the UK.

By the end of March 2012, the Mitsubishi dealerships will have 2 fully trained electric vehicle sales personnel as well as aftersales technicians. All of the Mitsubishi i-Miev sales centers will have an i-MiEV demonstrator vehicle for customers to try out over ‘a prolonged period’ to help people make an educated decision about whether or not an electric vehicle is right for them.

Mitsubishi UK’s managing director, Lance Bradley, says “Our dealer network will provide excellent service and be able to offer the best advice to our retail and fleet customers.” Dealership staff will undertake extensive training to ensure they have a clear understanding of the demands and requirements of potential Mitsubishi i-Miev customers. “Their after-sales departments will also comply with compulsory manufacturer training and require specialist tools to enable the service and maintenance of electric vehicles.”

There are no plans to install level 2 quick chargers at the Mitsubishi i-Miev dealerships, and it sounds like there’s some level of disappointment already amongst consumers. The dealerships will have standard 3 prong plugs to allow charging, but that seems like merely a consolation compared to the quick chargers installed at the Nissan Leaf dealerships.

Last month, meaning December 2011, Mitsubishi Motors North America sold 76 Mitsubishi i MiEV vehicles across the US in the first full month of sales, and Mitsubishi has been “receiving outstanding response and interest in the Mitsubishi i electric vehicle.”

As a result, Mitsubishi is moving up the nationwide rollout date for the Mitsubishi i-Miev. The original release date was the end of 2012, but Mitsubishi doesn’t want US customers to have to wait that long. Since Mitsubishi has been producing and selling the Mitsubishi i-Miev overseas since 2009, they shouldn’t have the same demand-filling issues that Nissan has had with it’s Leaf electric car.

The Mitsubishi i-Miev started selling in Hawaii, Washington, California and Oregon in November 2011. In those 4 states, Mitsubishi says the i-Miev is currently available for test drives. The Mitsubishi i Miev will be at i certified (meaning dealerships that are trained in the Mitsubishi i-Miev vehicle features and functions and have a charger installed) dealerships across the US in March 2012, and the Mitsubishi i will be available for purchase across the US in Summer 2012.

If you’re interested in purchasing a Mitsubishi i Miev you can reduce your wait time by pre-ordering online at www.mitsubishicars.com.

Mitsubishi has sold over 16,000 Mitsubishi i-Mievs globally since the electric vehicle debuted in Japan in July 2009.

The concept unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show was called the PX-MiEV II and looked similar to the Mitsubishi Outlander. The production version will be named the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid and Mitsubishi is planning to launch it by April 2013.

The Japanese business daily Nikkei reported that Mitsubishi plans to launch the PX-MiEV under the Outlander name and hopes to have it available by April 2013. While that’s great news, there are no other details available yet.

The Mitsubishi PX-MiEV, as released at the Tokyo Motor Show last month, had a 2.0 liter, 4 cylinder engine and 2 - 60Kw electric motors. Mitsubishi said the PX-MiEV concept could operate in electric vehicle mode only for up to 31 miles at low speed. When the battery charge gets low, the crossover part kicks in and the gasoline engine turns on to charge the battery. At highway speeds, the Px-MiEV enters parallel mode where the gasoline engine and electric motors work together. Mitsubishi estimates the PX-Miev will have a fuel economy equivelant of approximately 140MPG US [which seems too high to us considering the fully electric Mitsubishi i-Miev only received an EPA rating of 112 MPG].

While 12 hours to complete an Indy 500 circuit is not real exciting, the fact that it was done by Mitsubishi i MiEV Electric Vehicles is. The inaugural EV500 event was held in an effort to demonstrate the quick charge viability of electric vehicles like the Mitsubishi i.

The event was organized by Contour Hardening and the EV500 serves as a test for their Real Power Mobile Level 3 Quick Charge station.

The pair of Mitsubishi iMiev electric vehicles usually stuck around the 55mph speed, and stopped to top up with a short charge cycle to keep them going.

Here’s a video of the Mitsubishi iMievs in the EV500 on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDEb09xgW2w

Mitsubishi is planning to roll out a small electric pickup truck, which would be Mitsubishi’s third electric vehicle in addition to the Mitsubishi MiniCab-MiEV, and the Mitsubishi iMiEV also known as the Mitsubishi I in the USA.

The small electric pickup will be able to charge from a standard electrical outlet, and will be targeted at farmers, contractors, and others who use a small pickup truck for their jobs. The cost will be somewhere around the $20000 mark (using current exchange rates from 1.5 million Yen).

Mitsubishi has also stated they are making plans for a plug-in version of the Mitsubishi Outlander as well as an electric vehicle based on the Mitsubishi Evolution concept.

Ross Redman, of Winnipeg Manitoba, purchased and picked up his 2012 Mitsubishi iMiev from the Waverly Mitsubishi dealership. Ross knows that Winnipeg has one of the cleanest powers available, hydro-electric power, and that’s what he wants to use to power his new Mitsubishi i-Miev. Redman is an electronics technician, and he initially purchased the Mitsubishi iMiev because of it’s high torque performance, but he is now motivated to save the environment as well.

“Somehow we have to slow down our production of carbon dioxide. This is my contribution,” says Redman.

The Mitsubishi iMiev has no tailpipe – it’s a fully electric vehicle that produces no emissions.

At current hydro prices in Manitoba, it will cost about 80 cents to charge up the Mitsubishi iMiev. It will take about 15 to 20 hours to charge up the Mitsubishi iMiev using a standard 110V plugin.

Mitsubishi decided to launch it’s first Mitsubishi iMiev in Winnipeg because Redman was so determined to get one early on. Redman put a $5000 deposit down for a Mitsubishi iMiev four years ago. Mitsubishi Motors Canada vice president, Kenji Itoh, flew out from Toronto to present the Mitsubishi iMiev to Redman. “So for us, [he's] a very important customer,” Kenji stated during the ceremony.

In collaboration with Hydro Quebec, the Mitsubishi iMiev has been fully winter tested and approved to stand up to Canada’s harsh winters.

There are currently no electric vehicle incentives in Manitoba, althouth Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia offer incentives. The Manitoba Electric Vehicle association has set a goal of 4000 electric vehicles on the roads by 2015. That number is proportionate to Obama’s goal of 1 million cars on US roads by 2015.