LOS ANGELES — Mitsubishi's pint-sized electric car may look like a toy, but the quick and nimble little runabout with the unpronounceable name is one sweet urban commuter.
On sale in Japan next year, in Europe the year after that and in the United States, well, eventually.
The iMiEV was one of several EVs at the Los Angeles Auto Show, where Chrysler showed off its three electric prototypes, BMW promised to put the battery-powered Mini-E in 500 driveways within months and Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn became the latest industry exec to say the future belongs to cars with cords. The show, which continues this week, offered the strongest evidence yet that EVs are slowly entering the mainstream and the iMiEV is among the vehicles getting them there.
Mitsubishi holds no illusions that the iMiEV is the end-all, be-all of eco-friendlier motoring. With its diminutive size, limited range and love-it-or-hate-it looks, the iMiEV isn't for everyone. "We know it's a niche vehicle," company spokesman Maurice Durand told us. "It's an urban EV. But it can be a viable alternative for many of the world's drivers."
Durand put us behind the wheel of an iMiEV and turned us loose on the streets of Los Angeles, where we found the Lilliputian ride is just what you want in city car.
We only got 30 minutes in the driver's seat, but it was enough time to impress us. The iMiEV is quick, nimble and roomy enough for four adults. The asynchronous motor produces instantaneous torque and puts out 47 kW (about 64 horsepower), which is more than enough to push the 2,300-pound car beyond the speed limit. You aren't going to blow the doors off anything faster than, say, a Chevrolet Aveo, but you'll have no trouble keeping up with traffic.
The car has three "speeds," which might more accurately be called "modes." Drive provides full power. "Eco" tempers that by 10 percent. And "B" maximizes the regenerative braking to recover as much kinetic energy as possible and maximize battery life. Speaking of, the 16-kWh lithium-ion battery has a range of about 70 miles. We just heard some of you groan, but it's worth noting most daily commutes are less than 40 miles. Plug the car into a 110-volt household outlet and it'll recharge in 12 hours. Plug it into a 220-volt and you're good to go in half that.
Mitsubishi won't say when the iMiEV is headed to the United States, but it's handing four of them over to California utilities Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric for real-world testing. The iMiEVs headed to SoCal Ed's Electric Vehicle Technical Center will arrive this week, joining 300 other EVs in what is the largest electric fleet in America.
"We look at how these technologies interact with the grid — what are the load impacts, how do we manage the load and how do we manage the grid more efficiently," Edward Kjaer, SoCal Ed's director of electric transportation, told Wired.com. "We'll do dynamic vehicle testing on the road and we'll do battery testing. We'll assess how well the vehicle connects to the system, the efficiency of the charging and how best to manage charging."
The iMiEV will need some work before it can hit the road here in the United States. For one thing, it'll need more bracing to pass federal side-impact tests, and boosting the range will make the car more palatable to road-trip-lovin' Americans.
What's it gonna cost? A lot. The battery is the main hurdle, and Durand says the target for the Japanese market is "under $30,000." Ardent EV lovers and early adopters may not have a problem forking over that much, but that price won't play in Peoria even with the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs.
So what's with the name? The little EV is an electric version of the "i," Mitsubishi's gas-powered Kei car. MiEV is an acronym for Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle. Yes, they leave "innovative" lower case.
As we said, it's a lousy name but a sweet car.
Main photo by Jim Merithew/Wired.com. All others by Mitsubishi.
The iMiEV is an electric version of the "i," which belongs to a popular class of small vehicles called Kei cars. Although tiny — just a hair over 11 feet long — the iMiEV is surprisingly roomy inside because the wheels are pushed to the corners and the battery, motor and other electronics are located beneath the floor.
The iMiEV is a real car, with all the amenities you'd expect to find in a compact or mid-sized car. Fit and finish is solid, though some of the plastic looked and felt cheap. Should the car ever make it to the United States, it will of course be left-hand drive.
The automatic transmission has three speeds, which might more accurately be called "modes." Drive ("D") provides full power. "Eco" tempers that by 10 percent and "B" maximizes regenerative braking to recover as much kinetic energy as possible and maximize battery life.
*Dashboard display tells you how much battery charge you've got left in addition to things like how fast you're going and how far you've gone. You can't make it out in the photo, but the green display to the left of the gauge reads "Ready" and lights up once you've started the car. Electric motors are silent, so without the display you may not realize the iMiEV is running. *
*The iMiEV uses a 16-kWh, 330-volt lithium-ion battery that weighs 550 pounds. It's located beneath the front seats. Mitsubishi is developing and building batteries under a joint venture with the Japanese firms GS Yuasa and MMC called "Lithium Energy Japan." *
The battery charges in about 12 hours using a standard 110-volt household outlet. Double the voltage to 220 and you cut charging time in half.
