i-MiEV'

No one can accuse Mitsubishi of lousy timing. At least, not this time.

With Canada and the United States going green, its new all-electric i-MiEV has a head start on much of the competition, and as far as Tomoki Yanagawa is concerned, fully electric automobiles from his company and others should be available for purchase in Canada within the next five years (it went on sale in Japan this month).

Yanagawa is vice-president of sales, marketing and corporate planning for Mitsubishi Canada, and has been making the rounds to show off the i-MiEV.

The i-MiEV (Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle) represents the “pinnacle” of Mitsubishi's green technologies, and is a completely clean-running, zero-emissions vehicle. According to the company, even taking into consideration its overall emissions and costs during construction, it emits just 30 per cent of the carbon dioxide of a similarly-sized internal combustion car.

When it hits the road in Canada – probably within a year – the i-MiEV's expenses per kilometre will be one-third that of a comparably sized gas-engined car and during recharge, it'll cost one-ninth of what it costs to fill up a conventional automobile.

Built on Mitsubishi's “i” mini-car platform, the i-MiEV is propelled by a 330-volt, 16-kilowatt, 63-horsepower electric motor that is located in the front of the vehicle. It has a rear-wheel-drive layout and its 22 batteries are of the lithium-ion variety.

Mitsubishi is claiming that the i-MiEV will accelerate from zero to 80 km/h 11/2 seconds faster than its gas-fuelled counterpart, which has been sold in Japan for the past five years or so. The electric car can reach a top speed of over 130 km/h; it seats four adults and weighs about 1,080 kilograms.

More importantly, it will have a cruising range of at least 120 kilometres and can be recharged using either a typical 120-volt or 220-volt household plug, or through a dedicated quick-charge system.

When (and if) it comes on-stream in North America, the quick-charge arrangement will be in the form of a small kiosk supplied by Mitsubishi (at additional cost), and will get the system back up to 80 per cent of a full charge in about 30 minutes. Using a 120-volt plug, recharge time is 14 hours, and it's half that with 220 volts.

All three systems have their own circuits and, in the fullness of time, Yanagawa envisages quick-charge stations located throughout the city – in parking lots and so on.

“Range and recharging should not be an issue,” he says. Just to be on the safe side, the i-MiEV also has a “limp-home” mode that will give you a few more kilometres if you drain the system completely.

Unlike General Motors' ill-fated EV-1, the i-MiEV will not suffer damage if the system is completely depleted. Yanagawa claims the Yuasa-made batteries will last at least 10 years or 150,000 kilometres.

Behind the wheel, the i-MiEV is simplicity itself. Just turn the key, wait a few seconds for the system to power up and then put it drive and away you go.

It has all the usual conveniences, such as air conditioning, power windows, a stereo system and so on, and performance is actually quite lively. It's far too early to talk about price, but unofficially, the i-MiEV will probably start in the low- to mid-$20,000 neighbourhood.

One of the intriguing things about electric vehicles is that torque and power are available almost instantly, with no “spooling up” or engine rpm buildup. The i-MiEV's torque output is pegged at 133 lb-ft, which is almost double that of its gas-engined counterpart.

Aside from the fact that the model Mitsubishi had on hand in Vancouver was right-hand drive, there was no drama or weirdness when under way.

The i-MiEV easily keeps up with traffic, and has an “Eco” setting to help conserve even more power. It also features regenerative braking to recapture energy when decelerating. As an urban runabout, it would seem to do the job nicely.

The powers that be seem to think so, too. Mitsubishi, the British Columbia provincial government, the City of Vancouver and BC Hydro recently signed a memorandum of understanding that will see at least one test i-MiEV added to the fleets of BC Hydro and the city, with more cars being added as they become available – probably in the fall.

A few questions about the viability of this fully electric car remain, however. For starters, its purported range of 120 kilometres is based on driving the vehicle slowly, in perfect weather, on flat ground, with one occupant, and no accessories being used.

As well, the i-MiEV's performance in the depths of winter is still a huge unknown, occupant protection in a crash has yet to be determined, and the whole quick-charge recharging stations scenario is very much up in the air.

“We haven't put the i-MiEv through any cold weather testing at this point,” Yanagawa admitted.

So it's all good, but what may work in Vancouver won't necessarily cut it in Toronto or Winnipeg or Montreal.