Mitsubishi slash i-MiEV price before launch!
The battle for electric car sales cranked up a notch last night with the announcement by Mitsubishi that their forthcoming i-MiEV will be available for £28,990 rather than £38,699 as originally planned – equivalent to a 25% reduction! Even better news for motorists is that with the confirmation by the Government of its electric car incentive, customers will only have to pay £23,990 to get their hands on a i-MiEV.
Lance Bradley, Mitsubishi Motors in the UK’s Managing Director asserted that:
“The i-MiEV will remain first in all respects. We have been first in almost every aspect of the UK’s EV market for the last 2 to 3 years and we’re not going to give up that position easily. The electric vehicle is now a reality, with all our cars being European Whole Type Vehicle Approved. With a Mitsubishi Motors electric vehicle, customers need not compromise in any area.
What is more, our car is perfect for urban driving. It has been designed deliberately as a small, compact, true city car with the ability to nip in and out of traffic and park in the tightest of spaces.”
With over 2,300 i-MiEVs already operating the Japanese manufacturer is confident that the electric car will prove to be a ultra reliable new addition to roads in the UK when it is officially launched on January 1st 2011. The i-MiEV has been proving its reliability and usefulness in the UK since 2007, and has been involved in official government end-user trials since mid-December 2009 with customers in the Coventry and Birmingham area. Some of the key findings of the trial are highly relevant to prospective purchasers of the i-MiEV.
As well as the price reduction, the ultra-low running costs of the i-MiEV are a key advantage over conventional-powered cars, with additional incentives including:
- Only £144 fuel costs for 12,000 miles driving (£0.96 pence for a full charge – 16kW at an average of 6p per kW)
- Low servicing costs and downtime – only approximately 4 working parts compared to over 300 in a typical internal combustion engine
- Exempt from road tax
- First year capital allowances for fleet vehicles
- Zero benefit-in-kind company car tax
- Exempt from London Congestion Charge
- Free parking in some London boroughs and cities such as Milton Keynes
- Expected high residual values due to high demand outstripping supply for several years to come
Lance Bradley continues:
“These are exciting times for the motor industry in the UK. This is the biggest change in the automotive industry since it began some one hundred years ago, so to be able to offer our zero emissions car for this price is a truly great achievement.
We are aware that, by their very nature, any new technologies always command a premium, which has been true for anything from plasma televisions to cars. Others make price claims and estimations, but we have a real vehicle that is available now and is proven in the real world.”
With Mitsubishi’s price cut no doubt influenced, at least in part, by the Nissan LEAF it looks like many motorists seriously interested in an electric car will have a tough choice on their hands in 2011.
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