Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) has signed a letter of intent with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) [a key energy supplier to US west coast cities such as Los Angeles] covering the use of MMC’s zero-emissions i MiEV electric vehicle for research and demonstration purposes.
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Tohru Hashimoto, corporate general manager of MMC’s i MiEV business promotion office, said: “We are hoping for the opportunity to introduce the small, four-passenger Mitsubishi i MiEV to PG&E’s fleet in the fourth quarter of this year so that we can begin real-world US testing. The joint partnership will yield valuable data and a greater appreciation of the practicality of an all-electric vehicle in California.”
California is a popular testing ground for alternative fuel vehicles and home to electric sportscar maker Tesla. Honda is currently delivering a small number of fuel cell powered cars for testing in the hands of ‘real world’ ‘owners’ – actress Jamie Lee Curtis took
delivery of hers this week. Some years ago, Toyota sold a limited number of electric RAV-4 small SUVs in the state.
MMC said extensive testing of the i MiEV has taken place over the past two years with seven major utility companies in Japan and the success of these programmes prompted it to begin sales in Japan in summer 2009.
Through daily use, PG&E will gauge the viability of utilising all-electric vehicles in its operations and further understand the impact of charging electric vehicles on the electric grid. The testing will provide PG&E and Mitsubishi with vehicle usage data, which will be used to publicly demonstrate and validate the many benefits of dedicated electric vehicles in California.
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By GlobalData“PG&E has been researching the benefits of electric vehicles since the nineties. Partnering with automakers like Mitsubishi is vital to developing compatible infrastructures to support electric vehicles in the marketplace and ensure responsible integration with the grid,” said Andrew Tang, senior director of smart energy web for PG&E.
“By working with Mitsubishi, we will both benefit from a free exchange of electric vehicle information that includes charging infrastructure availability, vehicle data, vehicle commercialisation expectations and public feedback.”
The i MiEV, based on Mitsubishi’s i petrol-powered mini car on sale in Japan (a few have made it to the UK), has a zero-emissions electric drivetrain. A 330-volt lithium-ion battery under the floor powers a permanent magnet electric motor. With this packaging, the vehicle offers the same level of interior utility and space as the petrol version while lowering the center of gravity for more stable handling. The 47kW electric motor is said to offer improved performance and quicker acceleration compared wit the 64hp petrol version.
The lithium-ion battery was developed by the MMC/Mitsubishi Corporation/GS Yuasa joint venture, Lithium Energy Japan.
The i MiEV can travel up to 100 miles on a charge.
