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Mitsubishi unveils Y4.59 mil electric car

35 Comments

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It takes 7 hours to charge after going 160 km? And costs 4.6 million yen? Back to the drawing board.

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Not bad for a small commuter vehicle. 160km/100miles. A single charge would last me just under one week for the distance I travel to work. However, a 4 million yen price tag I do find very comical.

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crikey! i had actually been looking forward to this thing. but 4.6 million? erm, let me think about it for 10 years or so.

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Timely release, election just around the corner and politicians may use it for short distance election campaign, cost of car and fuel on tax-payers account !

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Too expensive.

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“It is a zero-emission vehicle. It does not rely on oil, which is different from hybrid cars”

A clever choice of words, but generally miss-leading "it does not rely on oil." Because we leave that to the power generating utilities, which use over 60% of oil and other fossil fuels to generate Japan's electricity.

Whilst it is a step in the right direction & better than a gas guzzler, if you add back the externalities its definitely not "zero-emission."

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actually it's a big step forward. the price is high, but this the first and only car on the market that's completely electric. If the technology gets refined and catches on, the price will get down fast. remember the first dvd players or plasma tvs

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Wow that thing is ugly, probably with performance to boot. "A regular home socket"?? So how are people who live in apartments or homes without a car park right beside the house going to charge this thing?.... and how much Wattage is consumed during the 7 hour charge time??? Ahh I don't want to know...I'll take a fuel guzzling GTR over this any day.

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It is not "zero emission", if you count the emission from the power plants producing all this electricity. Plust the emissions needed for the all the extra technology used in this.

Once again, rethoric without substance.

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Hmm... I think that we just need to see if TATA can make real the E-Nano. Even if the indian electric car end costing 1.000.000,- yen in J, it sound like a better deal to me.

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Don´t understand why these electric/hybrid cars don´t solar panels on their roofs.

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160 km is a little over twice what I do in a weekly commute. So, assuming one were to plug it in every day after using it, and not just when the battery dies out, not too shabby. I saw a piece on the i-MiEV last night, and it looks like it can acheive some decent enough tops speeds for urban commutes. What I'd like to know is how much does it cost for "seven hours at 200 volts." And does that amount compare favorably with the same costs in gasoline?

In any case, the 4.59 million yen is a bit of a shock, but not impossible, consicering up until now, the best the average consumer could hope to pay for a similar electric car was in the range $200,000.

And $40,000 rings in a lot lower that most of the gas guzzling, CO2-spewing SUVs out there. It's only a matter of a few years before this gets down to a more reasonable price. Like the spokeperson said, this isn't a "now" car. It's a 10-years from now car. But I'll be sereiously looking at the MiEV again in about 5 years.

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For two million yen, I would definitely buy one. The govt should tax gasoline to the sky and use the money to subsidize electric cars.

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There was talk of AEON supermarkets and conbinis offering superfast chargers (60-120mins) that charge you to 80% capacity while you shop. I guess they would install them in major service areas on the highway too, though perhaps the target market is city-only types (same target as Nissan Cube, which looks like it will be the base model for Nissans denki car in europe).

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About Time, I will buy one... Once again Japan is leading the way! Go the EV!

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LostinNagoya, it's a problem of cost (silicon solar cells are still very expensive), and efficiency. Of course, lots of research it's being done, this is the first step. It goes like this: hybrid cars, then electric car, then electric car with alternative source of energy, then I don't know.

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"Don´t understand why these electric/hybrid cars don´t solar panels on their roofs". There are cars on the way with solar panels in the roof but these are only capable of powering the air con or stereo. You cant run a car off sunlight yet.

The iMiEV is about as good as it gets for electric cars at the moment. Its nippy enough, holds a better charge than most, can seat four adults and at current prices a full charge will save a lot over a 160k worth of gas. It is a good indicator of the limitations of the technology though. How many have space to charge a car at home? and even two hours charging at a public facility severly limits the cars useability. The price also is too high, even when reduced to two million its twice the price of a standard i which delivers pretty good gas mileage.

Now electric commercial vehicles, do-able now and will make a big difference in towns and cities.

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How embarrasingly backward. I thought Japan was a third world country! Tesla had a Pierce Arrow car years ago that ran on Sun power (evanescent coupling to subsurface Sunstorms) Shell are already working on a new version. Is Japan determined to be the land of the setting Sun rather than the Rising Sun? http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2008/01/06/crackpot-or-genius-has-a-shell-boffin-stumbled-on-a-scientific-breakthrough/

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A solar cell on the roof would only make a few hundred watts at most. -and the smaller the roof the worse off you are. A whole car wrapped in a solar see thru sheet maybe a better solution, but they are maybe 1/3 the efficiency of a great solar panel like a Sharp.

These are the cars for the cities of the future. -but that works against solar also (sunlight loss due to buildings). Still companies will put in bids to buy 100s of them (for popularity) and they are the better long-term investment.

Prius didn't sell well initially either.

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Thank you guys for teaching me about solar power. I had this idea that a panel could provide enough energy to make a car run for some hundreds of meters, or some kilometers. But despite all the cons, this car is a triumph in my opinion. It´s the first step to clean cars. I am sure more innovative, efficient and cheap cars are on our way.

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Power (watts) = voltage x amperage You pay household in kW hours = 10-20 cents per kWh typically. Solar panels (200-300watts max for the door sized ones and you can expect your true wattage to be about 1/2 that, the cheaper polycrystaline solar panels are even worse) Sharp solar panels are probably the best.

=A car roof of solar panels on a sunny day 300w-500watts maybe. 300w/15v (car battery charge voltage) =20 amps continous. =How many amp (hours) do these batteries need. 1 car battery about 50 amp (hours) = 2 1/2 hrs charge time pet car battery. = it may take a few days or a week to charge this car under the sun with a rooftop solar panel.

=the Toyota Prius uses its' solar panel to run fans to keep the car cool in the summer. But some people run their Priuses off electricity only (extra batteries and a mod) already and the Japanese model has the electric only selection switch.

And your are probably looking at 4-10 times that. So 5 hours to charge

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Imagine all the money you now keep domestically instead of buying foreign oil. -Best way to fight yourself out of a recession and a good reason for Japan to offer incentives.

And how many old (and young) people (Japan) really drive a car everyday anyway? Charge it up solar or off household current at off-peak times. Many would even stay at home until the car is charged up because they wouldn't want to waste the money on fuel.

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Hey Masuko-san, this is just wishful thinking !

No emissions : yes if the electricity you use for recharging is produced without emissions from the powerstation.

160km range : maybe, if you are ready to take the risk of having the car dying under you just when you return home and park it ; and if you drive extra careful (strong accelerations are "dame", just creep along), and avoid driving at night because switching the lights on will shorten the range, and of course no use of A/C which is an energy guzzler.

Believe one who has been in the car industry, at the carmaker's who is presently world champion for the number of e-cars sold, and who of course has driven e-cars : they are only good for the fleets of some companies where they are sure to come home and be plugged at regular intervals (assuming, of course, that the companies are willing to pay the heavy price and the extra-cost of battery maintenance because these darn things do not last the entire lifetime of the vehicle they are in, and changing an entire battery pack is awfully costly ; actually, the best way is to buy the car and have the batteries on a lease contract that includes automatic replacement when needed).

BTW, how come that neither Masuko-san nor the incredibly competent journalists tell us which battery technology is used on this little thing ?

Probably another Mitsubishi dud, after the direct-injection gas engine etc etc...

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Yeah, those hybrids -no one will ever buy them. And why would anyone want a car that may last 20yrs+.

This car needs to be marketed as a platform (and new brand) and let the consumer/aftermarket decide what he needs. With newer tech the prices will go down and efficiency up. This is a car that is upgradeable and flexible to the consumer.

All the components in cars are going electric anyway. =more efficient.

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"how come that neither Masuko-san nor the incredibly competent journalists tell us which battery technology is used on this little thing?"

Looking at the gen on other websites the batteries are Lithium Ion made by Yuasa in Kyoto.

Dont see why some (Badsey) say battery cars free you from foreign oil. It seems to me you swap foreign oil for Peruvian lithium. And in many cases the foriegn oil still gets burnt in the power station.

Nope, still not an adequate alternative to efficient combustion engines.

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These Li-Ion batteries must be used immediately because their life span is short (~3yrs even if not used!) =All the more reason for a consumer choice.

Japan is mostly nuclear, if you want to put up solar cells, or a windfarm that is your bag.

People couldn't understand the iPhone either, but with 30k programs available and the SDK what is their to understand? People want a choice and this car platform could offer them that choice. =I want a dashboard choice, I want a solar roof choice, a hybrid or electric motor only choice. People are more different than you realize, but the basic framework is there.

Example: I only drive a car maybe 2 out of 14 days. A solar roof would be a good choice for me. I live in a colder area = electric motor would be great for starting, but bad for heating = my car may need a diesel (fuel oil) heater. 30-60 miles in those two days typical = I am in the range of the electric car specs.

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Badsey, if youre only using your car for 2 days every fortnight you might want to consider renting or car sharing. Cheaper, no depreciation worries and you wont kill your batteries from lack of use (a replacement battery pack will cost the better part of a million yen).

Like the iPhone I think people get it, but unlike the iPhone electric cars are just not developed enough yet to revolutionise to revolutionise the market. As Masuko san says, give it ten years or so.

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My car is like a drop off point = a junk station. Plus it's a 2000 = practically worthless. I am figuring it will last many more years though since I only drive it 1-2k miles a year now.

=My next car maybe all electric (or at least a hybrid) or maybe a Japanese mini-truck with the fold-down sides (very practical). I like the new Harley XR1200 also.

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*batteries sold separately

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It's good, but it's not sporty like the Prius. It would be better with a lower profile, alloy wheels, aerodynamic kit, a bigger engine and hopefully much faster. Also, it's probably too quiet, which I dislike in a car.

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Yes, we wouldn't want cars that are quiet, eh? Though actually, that raises an interesting point. We're all so adapted to using our hearing as one of our safety checks when crossing a road. How will it be with superquiet electric cars? We'll have to adapt...

According to another story on this, a hi-speed charger that they may put in various locations takes only a half hour to charge. But that's still too long for even a few cars to line up for in this country...

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No emissions? great! What happens to the batteries? 4.59 million? Most people cant afford it. Nice idea but to the majority of the global population, despite their cries for a cleaner environment, probably wont buy it. Comfort, speed, reliability and style are what people still want.

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I want fuel efficiency and something that doesn't stink.

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At around $40,000 US, the money you save on fuel would pay the car off over time. In these times, I would be willing to sacrifice style and speed for fuel efficiency and reliability.

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"the money you save on fuel would pay the car off over time" It would take 10 years to pay off the difference between this and the basic 660cc car with petrol savings.

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