Sin embargo, a pesar de la rebaja, el vehículo sigue costando casi el doble de lo que costaría un vehículo de gasolina ordinario.
Según fuentes del fabricante citadas por el "Nikkei", Mitsubishi planea desarrollar un coche eléctrico de bajo coste basado en la tecnología del i-MiEV pero con una batería más pequeña, de entre 140 y 150 kilogramos, en lugar de la de 230 kilogramos que llevará a partir de julio su nuevo vehículo.
El coste de la batería supone la mitad del precio de un coche eléctrico, por lo que una reducción del tamaño permitiría reducir considerablemente la cantidad a pagar por el producto final.
Con las ayudas del Gobierno de Japón, el nuevo vehículo podría llegar a adquirirse por menos de 2 millones de yenes (14.959 euros), algo que lo haría asequible no sólo para empresas sino también para el gran público, y le permitiría además competir con los últimos híbridos de Toyota y Honda.
Un portavoz de Mitsubishi dijo que la compañía no puede confirmar ni desmentir por el momento las especulaciones sobre este posible nuevo vehículo, que según el diario, tendría autonomía para recorrer 100 kilómetros con la batería completa, frente a los 160 que tarda en agotarse la del i-MiEV.
La compañía considera que la duración de la carga de esta batería es adecuada para moverse por áreas urbanas, ya que además puede cargarse hasta el 80% de su capacidad en 30 minutos, si se usa un cargador rápido.
En caso de lanzar este nuevo vehículo eléctrico más asequible, Mitsubishi pretende vender más de 30.000 unidades en el año fiscal 2013, que finaliza en marzo de 2014.
Actualmente las ventas de vehículos híbridos suponen algo más del 10% de las ventas totales en Japón, y la competición entre fabricantes se ha intensificado con el lanzamiento este año de la tercera generación del Prius de Toyota y del Insight de Honda.—————————-
Mitsubishi Motors Plans Cheaper Electric Cars
Mitsubishi Motors plans to develop a relatively cheap 3-million-yen ($31,400) electric vehicle by 2012 based on its iMiEV car by equipping it with a smaller battery, the Nikkei newspaper reported Thursday.
The battery accounts for almost half the production cost for an electric vehicle, the report said.
The auto maker is already scheduled to sell its i-MiEV electric car next month for roughly 4.6 million yen, including taxes. Although government subsidies will cut the actual buying price to 3.2 million yen, it will still cost almost twice as much as a gasoline-powered car, the report said.
After the release of the new, cheaper version, Mitsubishi hopes to sell more than 30,000 electric cars in fiscal 2013, the report said.
Battery options
Separately, Toyota is considering Sanyo Electric Co. as a new battery supplier, as demand for its new Prius hybrid vehicles climbs, Dow Jones Newswires said, citing a Sankei Shimbun report.
Panasonic EV Energy Co. currently supplies Toyota with batteries, but Toyota has started to consider increasing its number of battery suppliers, the report cited an executive from Toyota as saying.
Shares of many battery suppliers had rallied Wednesday, mainly on hopes for Nomura Asset Management’s new investment trust — the RCM Green Technology Fund — to be set up next week, Dow Jones Newswires quoted a Japanese brokerage equities manager as saying.
"The technology and the prospect of cleaner, greener alternatives should warrant buyers and some nice returns. The question is: Have these names gotten ahead of themselves?" McGonegal said.
On Thursday, Kawasaki Heavy and Sanyo gave back some of those gains, though Meidensha Corp. rose by 8.3% in late morning action.
McGonegal said this meant the market was seeing "some sanity come into the space … as Sanyo, GS Yuasa and Kawasaki Heavy are under pressure."
Production version of Mitsubishi electric car unveiled
Mitsubishi Motors has unveiled the production version of its i-MiEV1 2 electric vehicle (EV), describing it as “the pioneer that will open the door to the next 100 years of our automobile society.” The i-MiEV will go on sale on the Japanese market in late July of this year.
Mitsubishi Motors expects to distribute, on a lease basis, some 1,400 i-MiEV models in fiscal 2009 principally to corporations and to local authorities. The company plans to start sales of i-MiEVs to individuals in April 2010 and will start taking orders on the Mitsubishi Motors web site in late July of this year.
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Five More Electric Cars from Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi announced earlier this month that its i-MiEV electric car would cost $45,660, and Wheels readers raised their eyebrows at the high price for the tiny car. Even with a $14,000 credit from the Japanese government, the car would be expensive for what it is — a small city car with a battery range of 75 to 100 miles.
“These companies better get real about their prices, unless they are including a lifetime supply of batteries,” wrote Dick.
“That sum is about equal to the retail value of all three of my existing cars when they were brand new,” wrote Steve O.
It looks as if Mitsubishi is well aware of the i-MiEV’s sticker shock. The Nikkei reports (via Bloomberg News) that the Japanese company is working on a cheaper electric car with a target price of $31,000 (or $17,000 after Japanese credits), which it plans to bring to market by 2012.
According to Green Car Congress, which also cites the Nikkei, Mitsubishi has plans for an additional five electric cars by the end of the 2013 fiscal year. These include a left-hand-drive i-MiEV by the 2010 fiscal year for the European market (and later the American market); an electric commercial vehicle in the 2010 fiscal year; a larger electric car; a sportier version of the i-MiEV; and a plug-in hybrid S.U.V. by the 2013 fiscal year.
Mitsubishi is the only major automaker producing electric cars in any volume, if you consider volume 1,400 i-MiEVs — four-seaters — by next spring. In a statement released this month, Mitsubishi said its goal was to have 20 percent of its production volume be E.V.’s by 2020.
