Mitsubishi i-MiEV Could Come With Sub-$30,000 Sticker

The Mitsubishi iMiEV All Electric Vehicle







If Mitsubishi's pricing for the i-MiEV is any indication, electric-vehicle prices may fall farther and faster than you might expect.

Mitsubishi started selling its ovoid little EV in Japan last summer for ¥4.59 million, or about $53,000. Then it priced the i-MiEV at about $59,000 in Germany.

Ouch! If you listened closely, you could hear the EV market withering.

But last month Mitsubishi said it would cut the price in Japan to the equivalent of about $22,000 by 2012. That doesn't necessarily equate to the U.S. price -- but Mitsubishi Motors North America executive Joe Delello said last week that the automaker wants the i-MiEV to sticker for south of $30,000 when it arrives here in the fall of 2011. That excludes the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs.

"We're very keen on being as competitive as possible," says Delello, Mitsubishi's director of electric-vehicle operations. "We certainly want to make it as close as possible to the reach of many intenders."

You can bet that Mitsubishi has one eye on Nissan, which will sell its Leaf in the United States for $32,780 (also excluding the tax credit). Mitsubishi has said it expects expanded production to cut the price of lithium ion battery packs sharply. And it's spreading development costs by rebadging i-MiEVs for French brands Peugeot and Citroen.

Delello says Mitsubishi's research shows that two-thirds of its likely customers are male, with an average age of 53 and a household income above $120,000.

Many have a strongly pro-environment bent, he says: "A lot of them have already had hybrids and are ready to make the next step."

At the right price, of course.

Source: Automotive News