Mitsubishi's i-MiEV Cargo shows potential

The i-MiEV Cargo that Mitsubishi unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in September remains a concept only, but it's a concept grounded in reality.

In reality, the i-MiEV is likely to be a very expensive new-car purchase for private buyers and local government -- if the rumours are any sort of basis for speculation.

But as a commercial vehicle, it's a whole different ball-game. During the Challenger launch last week, the Carsales Network baled up Paul Unerkov, Mitsubishi's Vice President of Brand Management -- and asked him about the prospects for the i-MiEV Cargo coming here.

"They're not building them yet," Unerkov responded.

"It's on the [i-MiEV] platform, but they're not building them. From a concept point of view, it's got a lot of good things going for it... Sydney courier vans and all that sort of stuff.

For inner city couriers, the 'LCEV' makes a lot of sense. It has a respectable range, produces zero emissions and, putting in a lot of hours during the day, it would actively reduce the CO2 emissions for the city and suburbs by taking an internal-combustion car off the road between the hours of 9.00 am and 5.00 pm. Unerkov agrees and also explains that the i-MiEV's fast-charge capability could restore 80 per cent of the battery's charge in just 30 minutes -- "a lunch break," as he points out.

Despite the mixed reviews from the media since Mitsubishi first announced that the i-MiEV was being evaluated for Australia, Unerkov believes that the tiny electric vehicle has a potentially great future in Australia. The local media has fixated on the car's projected purchase price and the fact that in carbon-heavy states like Victoria it would be no cleaner than a Toyota Prius to run. But those two issues aside, the i-MiEV is right for this country, argues Unerkov.

"The infrastructure in Australia is not as bad as what it is in other markets," he said. "We have people who live in houses, who have got electricity, off-street parking... all that sort of stuff.

"A lot of places around the world don't have that. If you go to Europe, then you park the car on the side of the road... they need infrastructure."

Unerkov's colleague and Mitsubishi's Head of Corporate Communications, Lenore Fletcher, is a supporter of the i-MiEV Cargo and would like to see it go into production. Furthermore, she also believes there are synergies for businesses operating the i-MiEV Cargo in a courier role.

"If you look at the i-MiEV Cargo, that makes an awful lot of sense... not just in Australia, but in a lot of countries," she said.

"The application of that would be something looked at very closely. Were it to become available as a production-volume vehicle, it would be a great vehicle for Australia... city, commuters, courier-type delivery vans, it would be a great idea.

"It would be small enough to be able to get around the city and yet it's got the space that you'd actually be able to use it very well in a work environment. We would certainly be interested in a vehicle like that.

"The other thing is those vehicles are so visible -- and they're beautifully signwritten with the company's [name] on it -- it would increase the awareness from that point of view. And I think that from the point of view of companies wanting to go forward with that type of vehicle, there'd be huge interest, because it says something about the company that's buying, it says something about their environmental consciousness -- but it also gives them increased awareness as well."

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