Mitsubishi Australia has announced details of the local release of its ground-breaking i-Miev electric vehicle, as well as a rather unusual method of offering them for sale. Or rather, for lease, because the first 40 cars will not be sold to the general public but instead will be leased to selected customers after going through a tendering process.

Details of the release of the i-MiEV and news of other Mitsubishi initiatives were provided by Mitsubishi Motor Corporation’s global president, Osamu Masuko, during a recent visit to Australia which included meetings with Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, as well as selected Australian motoring journalists.

                        

Although the subject was not raised directly in discussions with the Australian government, Mr Masuko did indicate that financial assistance would be required for there to be a significant adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in this country. Such assistance has been forthcoming from both the Japanese and many European governments.

The first i-MiEVs will arrive in July when their new owners are likely to be state and federal governments, fleet customers and even some high-profile individuals with the selection criteria including the ability to display the car’s environmental credentials to the best effect. Mitsubishi Australia did stress that the bidding process, which will commence this month, was open to anyone.

The i-MiEV has been on sale in Japan for almost a year with more than 1400 being sold to date. Indeed, we were able to test drive the car around the streets of Tokyo during a visit late last year as well as in both Sydney and Adelaide during a preview tour around the Australian capital cities earlier this year.

Prices have yet to be announced but some clue can perhaps be gleaned from the monthly lease charge of $1740 per month for a three-year period, noting that the car will then be returned to Mitsubishi. So a price tag of between $60,000 and $70,000 can be expected.

During his Australian press conference, Mr Masuko, reinforced Mitsubishi’s long-term commitment to electric-powered vehicles, stating that all vehicles in the Mitsubishi range would have either a full EV, or plug-in hybrid, variant by 2020.

                  

The plug-in hybrid differs from conventional petrol/electric hybrids in that, as the names suggests, the vehicles’ batteries are charged predominantly from mains power rather than solely by the petrol engine thus providing lower fuel usage. The first Mitsubishi plug-in hybrid is likely to be the PX-MiEV concept that was shown at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.