Finally, they have arrived. We’ve waited years for electric vehicles to find their way into dealerships, and within the next few months we’ll be getting five of them: the Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan LEAF, the Ford Focus Electric, the Ford Transit Connect Electric and the subject of this test, Mitsubishi’s diminutive i-MiEV.
Don’t get us wrong; we still love the good, old combustion engine, especially those with 8 cylinders and the letters HEMI or AMG cast on their valve covers. But we know something has to be done about our dependence on fossil fuels, and the introduction of electric vehicles is one step in the right direction.
We’re especially curious to see how the public will react to cars that you must plug in, and that can only be driven for a certain range before requiring another juice-up. Mitsubishi provided us with a 2011, European-spec i-MiEV for a short period of time, which we obviously couldn’t pass up.
The Canadian version we’ll be getting in a few months will be a 2012 and will differ cosmetically, with new bumpers, taillights and other trimmings. On the inside, the redesigned centre stack won’t look and feel as dinky, and the sound system or optional navigation screen will be integrated, as opposed to our test car’s aftermarket unit. The door panels will also be redesigned for extra width, while the seats should be slightly wider, too.
The plan was simple; we pick up the i-MiEV on Monday morning and bring it back on Tuesday before 5 o’clock.
But wait a minute; pick it up at the dealer, bring it back to the office, go out to lunch, take it out for photographs, and go home... all that travelling needed to be done on one charge since we don’t yet have a charging station at Auto123.com (we’re working on it!).
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| The Canadian version of the i-MiEV will arrive in dealerships this coming November. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour/Auto123.com) |
Don’t get us wrong; we still love the good, old combustion engine, especially those with 8 cylinders and the letters HEMI or AMG cast on their valve covers. But we know something has to be done about our dependence on fossil fuels, and the introduction of electric vehicles is one step in the right direction.
We’re especially curious to see how the public will react to cars that you must plug in, and that can only be driven for a certain range before requiring another juice-up. Mitsubishi provided us with a 2011, European-spec i-MiEV for a short period of time, which we obviously couldn’t pass up.
The Canadian version we’ll be getting in a few months will be a 2012 and will differ cosmetically, with new bumpers, taillights and other trimmings. On the inside, the redesigned centre stack won’t look and feel as dinky, and the sound system or optional navigation screen will be integrated, as opposed to our test car’s aftermarket unit. The door panels will also be redesigned for extra width, while the seats should be slightly wider, too.
The plan was simple; we pick up the i-MiEV on Monday morning and bring it back on Tuesday before 5 o’clock.
But wait a minute; pick it up at the dealer, bring it back to the office, go out to lunch, take it out for photographs, and go home... all that travelling needed to be done on one charge since we don’t yet have a charging station at Auto123.com (we’re working on it!).
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| With no free parking spaces around the building near a power outlet, we promptly parked the i-MiEV inside the building and plugged it in. (Photo: Auto123.com) |