Mitsubishi i-Miev Goes on Sale

Lately any news about Mitsubishi is dominated by the i-Miev -the manufacturers' electric plug in- and it's no surprise as 2011 has already been touted as the year of the electric car.

The i-Miev, which goes on sale in the UK at the end of January, is the first electric vehicle to benefit from the government's Plug-In Car Grant. The scheme introduced at the beginning of the year offers buyers up to £5,000 off the cost of an EV.

For now the i-Miev is the only EV that can be bought outright under the scheme, with the Peugeot iOn and smart for two electric drive available for lease from January. The Nissan LEAF will be available to buy from March.

The Japanese manufacturer have shipped around 2,500 units of the i-Miev to Europe, countries such as Britain, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, France and Belgium have been the first to receive the European-spec model. A total of 19 European countries are set to receive the i-Miev over the coming year.

In the UK 13 approved EV centres have been chosen, and each will have a dedicated Mitsubishi-trained EV salesman, a charging bay and a demonstration vehicle, to allow customers to experience driving and owning an EV. Two Mitsubishi dealer in London have been chosen, with the rest spanning the country.

Lance Bradley, the UK's managing director said:'This is a really exciting time for Mitsubishi Motors and having the first mass produced fully electric vehicle in the UK market puts us at the forefront of a new era in the automotive industry.'

Luxury manufacturers such as Jaguar and Audi expected to release hybrid or electric vehicles by 2012/13.

Although manufacturers are confident that electric cars are the future, motorists skepticism about EVs is a hurdle yet to be overcome. The environmental benefits are obvious but need to be matched by short term cost efficiency and ease of use.