Mitsubishi Gets Paul Pietsch Award

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation received the prestigious Paul Pietsch Award for the development of the new-generation electric vehicle i-MiEV. The distinction for automotive technology and design was handed to Mitsubishi Motors Corporation’s Member of the Board in Charge of Product Strategy & Development Group Headquarters Gayu Uesugi by Auto Motor und Sport editor-in-chief Bernd Ostmann.

Mitsubishi’s little electric vehicle has been on sale in Japan since July 2009 and was very well received by the customers. Production for the left hand drive version of the iMiEV will start in October 2010, so other important markets will be able to benefit from Mitsubishi’s way of offering zero CO2 emissions.

By the end of 2010 iMiEV will hit the European market, complete with a charging system compatible with European 220/240V outlets. In this layout, a full charge from scratch should take about seven hours.

“We are particularly pleased that the high-calibre international judging panel honours our i-MiEV electric vehicle by presenting it with this internationally-acclaimed technology award this year. With this award, we believe we can carry out our European market launch in the end of 2010 with even further confidence,” said Mr. Uesugi.

If you find the award’s name rather interesting, you should know that it was named after the co-founder of Auto Motor und Sport magazine. The jury is composed of the editors of the automobile magazine as well as the editors-in-chief of 28 international partner magazines. The award which started back in 1989 recognizes innovative developments in automotive engineering.