The little Mitsubishi i-MiEV is the smallest four-seat electric car sold in North America, and its sales have been commensurate with its size: low.

Since it went on sale more than three years ago, sales have totaled less than 2,000 units--against 72,300 for the larger Nissan Leaf.

DON'T MISS: 2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV: $6,130 Price Cut, More Standard Features (Dec 2013)

Nonetheless, the company is persevering with its battery-electric minicar, and deliveries of the 2016 Mitsubishi i-MiEV will start this month.

The news comes via a report at InsideEVs, which Green Car Reports independently confirmed with Mitsubishi's senior PR specialist Alex Fedorak.

[UPDATE: One week after this article was originally published on February 17, Mitsubishi issued a press release confirming that the 2016 i-MiEV would reach dealers this month.]

2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV

2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV

Mitsubishi has now skipped two model years (2013 and 2015), meaning any new or used i-MiEVs in the U.S. will be from the 2012, 2014, or 2016 model years. (Canada got a handful of 2013 cars.)

The 2014 cars got a $6,000 price cut, along with CHAdeMO DC fast-charging fitted as standard equipment, but that didn't move the needle much on sales--only a few hundred 2014 models were sold.

ALSO SEE: 2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV: Arriving At Dealers, Updated, Cheaper (Jun 2014)

The company hasn't issued any details or specifications for the 2016 i-MiEV yet.

It did, however, tell InsideEVs that it would adjust the mix of options fitted to the car to suit buyer preferences better.

2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV

2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV was the first modern electric small car to go on the market, entering limited sales in Japan in 2008.

While Mitsubishi has made an aggressive commitment to plug-in electric car technology, the i-MiEV has been hugely outsold by the larger and longer-range Nissan Leaf.

MORE: 2012-2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV Recall: Brake Pump Corrosion (Oct 2014)

The i-MiEV has only a 16-kilowatt-hour battery pack--just two-thirds the capacity of that in the Leaf--and its range of 62 miles is the lowest for any battery-electric car sold in the States.

Mitsubishi is likely to see better success with its Outlander Plug-In Hybrid; that plug-in SUV has been repeatedly delayed, but has sold well in both Asia and certain European countries.

_________________________________________________

Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.