Earlier this week we reported on our partners over at TheCarConnection.com getting a chance to pilot the sister car to the Mitsubishi MiEV, the Mitsubishi "i" Mini. Now, we bring you the complementing coverage of the first drive of the MiEV by TheCarConnection.com. Yep, we like to get on all sides of the small car stories around here, so sit back as we hit some of the highlights. So that we end on a good note, lets start with the bad.The Mitsubishi MiEV seems to garner the same criticism from a variety of journalists—it is just too narrow. According to TheCarConnection.com, "the narrow body is the most constraining part of the experience-you'll be bumping elbows with your passenger." Other short comings are with power at highway speeds (to be expected of the 67 hp electric equivalent) and the length of the charge time (about 14 hours at a U.S. household 110 V). Most of these problems are consistent with EV issues in general at the present point of the technology cycle, so lets move on to the good.
2010 Mitsubishi MiEV

2010 Mitsubishi MiEV

The Mitsubishi MiEV is in its element a lower boulevard speeds and TheCarConnection.com thinks it would have the power and performance advantage over its sister car up to 35 mph. The MiEV is also gives the impression of being more substantial than the Smart ForTwo (also coming out with a EV model), which might give it an edge in a society that isn't quite ready to give up on larger vehicles, but are being pressured into greener and more responsible automotive solutions. Finally, the MiEV is praised for its head and legroom, especially consider it can sit four adults comfortable. When we say comfortably, we don't mean four 5'2" passengers; TheCarConnection.com's 6'6" editor could sit in the backseat without having his knees up around his ears.Bottom line—Mitsubishi has the edge in Japan in the Kei car segment (more here) because of their efficient use of interior space and perky in-town performance. The question is, can it hold up in the "more power" reality that is the United States?Be sure to check out the full Driven review over at TheCarConnection.com.