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Mitsubishi Becomes World's First Automaker to Mass Produce an Electric Car

 
6 2,275 views June 4, 2009

imiev

imiev

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On Thursday June 4th at its main plant in Okayama Japan, Mitsubishi Motors has become the world's first automaker to begin mass production of an electric car.

The vehicle that has begun rolling off the assembly line is the Mitsubishi iMiEV, a pure electric car with 100 miles of driving range and a top speed of 90 mph.  It is a futuristic-looking 2000 pound 4 door 4-seater which is fun to drive.

The car uses a 16 kwh lithium-ion battery pack that recharges in 14 hours at 120V, 7 hours at 240V, and a 47 kw motor. The lithium-ion batteries are being supplied by a joint initiative with GS Yuasa Corp also of Japan.

Mitsubishi plans to build 2000 units in 2009, 5000 units in 2010, and 15,000 units in 2011.  The cars will go on sale next month in Japan for 3 million yen ($31,100 USD).  There are plans to eventually bring the vehilce to North America, with fleet versions coming first.

"Today is a historic day," said Eiji Kato, general manager of the iMiEV plant. "We will work towards the day when the entire world will associate electric vehicles with the i MiEV."

And so a big step towards a world without oil has been taken.

Source (Nikkei)





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Comments (6)

  1. By r4nd0mn4me Posted: 6/4/2009 7:38am PDT

    w00t!
     
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  2. By statik Posted: 6/4/2009 5:28pm PDT

    A big, big day! This the car that will prove to people that EVs are real and not just concepts and press releases.
    Now hurry up and take our money in North America.
     
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  3. By  James Posted: 6/5/2009 6:37pm PDT

    Fantastic news. I hope the momentum builds, and the U.S. catches up.
     
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  4. By Jeff Posted: 6/6/2009 12:43pm PDT

    Yeah, a World without oil, except the oil you need to produce the electricity to charge the EVs. :) Mitsubishi is trying to gain PR (because their business and reputation is dismal), this is not the World's first mass-produced electric car.
     
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  5. By  easywriter Posted: 6/6/2009 2:21pm PDT

    Good for Mitsubishi, the feedback from the first few buyers will help improve the cars.
    There are Electric Cars available for Americans to drive, they are expensive though. As more of them are sold, the prices should go down so they will be accessible to more drivers, For Article, Click Name: "easywriter"
     
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  6. By  stevelectric Posted: 6/6/2009 2:30pm PDT

    The Chinese Battery Company, BYD, that makes most of the world's laptop and cellphone battries, also makes cars!
    BYD has an Electric Car that is ready for production and American multi-billionare investor Warren Buffet has bought an interest in that company.
    With so many thousands of car dealerships being driven off the road by Chrysler and General Motors don't be surprised if there is a BYD dealer near you soon, Click Name: "stevelectric" for article
     
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