2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV Pricing Announced For Australia

2012 I-MIEV

Mitsubishi Australia has announced local pricing for its i-MiEV electric vehicle ahead of its wider Australian launch, following a promise last week of a sub-$50k price tag.

Entering at $48,880 (plus on-road costs), the i-MiEV will sell for around $14,000 less than the 2010 model. It will go on sale across Australia from August.

“This represents a 22.5 percent reduction on the cost of the previous model, and makes this ground-breaking technology more accessible to general consumers," Mitsubishi Australia President and CEO Genichiro Nishina said.

While the first run of 110 i-MiEV cars in Australia were offered only to government and business fleets - and only on a lease basis - the updated-for-2012 i-MiEV will soon be available to the general public.

Among the updated i-MiEV's standard features are stability control (now required by law), traction control, side airbags and curtain airbags.

Auto-on headlights and multi-mode keyless entry are also new for 2012, with the latter replacing the previous model's keyless start feature with a traditional keyed ignition - likely to save owners from accidentally leaving the ultra-quiet i-MiEV running while parked.

The i-MiEV's powertrain remains unchanged, its rear-mounted electric motor producing 49kW and 180Nm. Power is sent to the wheels through a single-speed transmission, and maximum driving range remains 155km.

A Lithium-ion battery pack sits under the passenger compartment and can be fully charged from a 15-amp household plug in seven hours.

A specialised quick-charger system will soon debut in metro areas around Australia that can charge the battery to near-full in just 30 minutes.

In addition to Mitsubishi's standard 10 year powertrain and 5 year vehicle warranty, the i-MiEV will be sold with a 5-year battery warranty. However, Mitsubishi expects batteries to retain 80% of their capacity after 10 years.

Initially, the i-MiEV will be sold from a single selected dealership in each major city, with further dealerships to offer the i-MiEV from the start of 2012.