Mitsubishi Introduces Two New Budget i-MiEV Versions

Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi decided to release two new versions of its electric i-MiEV, which are to battle competition such as the Nissan Leaf in its home market. The company has thus announced a new budget variant dubbed i-MiEV M and a model with a longer driving range and higher spec trim called i-MiEV G.

Taken separately, the M budget version is set to arrive in Japanese showrooms on July 25, wearing a price tag of 2.6 million yen (about $32,000), down from 3.8 million ($46,900).

Moreover, the price is further brought down to just 1.88 million yen ($23,200) after state subsidies are applied, which makes it able to compete with the Nissan Leaf (2.99 million yen / $36,900). But there is also a catch. In order to reduce the price of the model that much, Mitsubishi had to compromise the driving range slightly-reducing it to around 75 miles from around 100 miles for the previous model.

Then we have the G model, which comes to offer a better driving range than the original model. Due to arrive in Japanese showrooms from this August, this version has a suggested retail price of around 3.8 million yen ($46,900) and can travel 110 miles on a full charge.

As said, the G also benefits from a more comprehensive equipment and trim specification and ‘MiEV Remote System’ that allows the owner to set the time he wants battery charging to start and finish and to pre-activate the climate control system before entering the car.

Mitsubishi says it aims to sell 6,000 i-MiEVs this year in Japan alone.