The current economic climate has really sharpened the need to ween ourselves off petrol (although the near $2 a Litre pricing six months ago helped form that opinion as well), so the idea of a $30,000 electric car hitting Australian showrooms next year is really quite appealing. Tony Hagon at the SMH is saying that Mitsubishi’ MiEV, which resembles a SMART car and runs exclusively on a 47kW motor, is currently undergoing feasibility studies. However, he’s also quoted Mitsubishi’s Australian CEO Robert McEniry as saying the chances of it being sold next year are “very high”.The car has a 160km range, and can be fully recharged over 8 hours through your standard powerpoint, or 20 mins from a high-voltage outlet. And therein lies the current problem with electric cars – even though the SMH article says Mitsubishi is in talks with two suppliers about recharging infrastructure, the fact that you can’t just quickly juice up the car is going to severely restrict early adoption of the MiEV. Well, that and its looks…
If you want to have a look at the MiEVs in person, Mitsubishi are bringing two to Australia in February – one for the Melbourne Motor Show, while the other will be “driven by potential customers”, whatever that means. Hopefully that they’ll be stopping by the Gizmodo offices, perhaps?
[SMH]