Home | News | Road Tests Who's taking a Mitsubishi i-MiEV 23rd July, 2010 Home > News > Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) has announced "members" of the inaugural Mitsubishi i-MiEV Foundation Group - entities which have successfully applied to lease one of the company’s electric vehicles when the first shipment arrives in Australia late this month. With the arrival of the vehicles, MMAL will become the first volume-production manufacturer to market electric vehicle technology in this country. Successful applicants include the federal government, a number of state government departments, and a few corporations. Each of these organisations will receive an i-MiEV electric vehicle for use on their company fleet, with employees and staff amongst the first Australians to experience the ground-breaking zero drive-time emissions technology on a daily basis. The announcement of the Foundation Group members will be supported by a wide-ranging advertising campaign, commissioned by MMAL. While Mitsubishi announced that 40 vehicles would be available in initial shipments, the company reported applications for over 100 vehicles from more than 40 companies and government departments – a demand for supply MMAL is keen to fill with follow-up shipments of the city commuter. According to MMAL’s CEO and president, Masahiko Takahashi, demand for the vehicles has been high. “The last twelve months have seen Mitsubishi conduct Australian trials of the vehicle with hundreds of potential owners, including local, state and federal government bodies, and major fleet operators, and the feedback from these test drives has been very positive. “However, the proof of Australia’s acceptance of the electric vehicle comes down to whether people are ready to purchase the vehicle – and there is no doubt that they are. We have three times as many applicants as vehicles at this point.” “We could not have wished for a better response,” Takahashi said. Released in Japan in July 2009, the i-MiEV, which stands for Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle, is one of the world’s first viable zero drive-time emission city commuters in volume production. International interest in the vehicle has been considerable and the i-MiEV has undergone feasibility studies in several locations around the world, including the United States, several European countries, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Iceland, Canada, and more recently in Australia. The i-MiEV’s electric motor is smaller, produces more torque at low revolutions and is quieter than a similarly-powered turbocharged petrol engine (according to MMC in-house tests). Most importantly, the i-MiEV’s motor is cleaner, producing zero drive-time CO2 emissions. Utilising a large-capacity lithium-ion battery system and a compact, high-output electric motor in place of a traditional petrol power train, the i-MiEV has some impressive technical specifications for a zero drive-time emissions vehicle. Producing 47 kW of power and 180 Nm of instant torque, the i-MiEV’s permanent magnet synchronous motor is supported by a revolutionary lithium-ion battery from Lithium Energy Japan. The i-MiEV has a range of up to 160 kilometres, a top speed of 130 kilometres per hour, and recharges in less than eight hours from a standard 15 amp power point. “When you consider that 85 per cent of commuters in urban Australian environments travel less than 100 kilometres per day, the i-MiEV represents an excellent solution to reduce our environmental footprint when green-energy is utilised,” Takahashi said. MITSUBISHI MOTORS AUSTRALIA LIMITED i-MiEV FOUNDATION MEMBERS as at 14th July 2010 Federal Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Self-Catering Holiday Accommodation in Denmark, WA ..... more State Governments New South Wales Government Queensland Government South Australian Government Victorian Government Local Councils City of Adelaide City of Brisbane City of Gold Coast City of Marion City of Sydney Automotive Associations NRMA RAA SA Companies Better Place Carsales ChargePoint Energex Energy Australia Ergon Energy ESCO Energy Solutions ETSA Utilities GE Custom Fleet Google Hume Building Society Leaseplan Mitsubishi Australia Limited Ozgene Rock Constructions Roche Products St George Bank Western Power Hear Chris Goodsell Talk Motoring On Radio & Internet ..... more More Mitsubishi News ..... here Sustainable Motoring News ..... here Top of page About | Car Clubs | Home | News | Road Ramblings | Road Tests | Subscribe | Top Drive ©   2010   All rights reserved.   Next Car Pty. Ltd.