Now for the 'i' car?

Look! It's a new electric-powered vehicle we're aiming to bring to Australia. That's what we're hearing from Mitsubishi in respect of its futuristic i-MiEV. What we're not hearing is whether the company also plans to import the petrol donor car on which the i-MiEV is based.

The petrol-powered version features a 660cm3 four-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels, much like the smart fortwo. It develops the same power as the electric motor in the i-MiEV (47k), but producing peak torque of 94Nm falls a long way behind the 180Nm of the i-MiEV. For the i-MiEV, Mitsubishi slots the battery pack and electric motor in the same locations, respectively, where the petrol car's fuel tank and IC powerplant reside. Despite its small footprint, the i-MiEV is a masterful design where packaging is concerned.

Mitsubishi has finalised type approval with the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional development and Local Government (DITRDLG) for not only the electric i-MiEV, but its petrol-fuelled sibling, the i car (more here).

In other words, there are no legislative obstacles to Mitsubishi bringing in both cars for sale in Australia. There would be marketing considerations to be resolved should either or both cars come here however.

Paul Unerkov, MMAL's VP of Brand and Marketing, doesn't believe it would be "fair" for the i-MiEV to compete in what we know as the VFACTS light car segment.

Under orders from his boss Rob McEniry not to discuss pricing with the media during the i-MiEV drive program yesterday, Unerkov acknowledged that there would be a "price premium" for the electric vehicle over an equivalent petrol model -- and that would place it at a disadvantage in the market, compared against other cars in the same light-car segment.

But if the i-MiEV (which won't necessarily be marketed here using that name) is one of a pigeon pair -- the other offering being the petrol car -- Mitsubishi may be blocked from selling the i-MiEV into a hypothetical 'electric car' segment. According to Unerkov, there's already a working committee within the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) discussing various issues pertaining to electric vehicles. Market segmentation is one of those issues.

Within Mitsubishi itself, there's potential for the i-MiEV -- and other electric vehicles to follow -- being sold through a dedicated channel like Ralliart.

"It's more likely that there will be something like that," acknowledges McEniry, MMAL's President and CEO.

"We haven't gone into the distribution strategy, but when you think about where the usage is going to be -- around the cities primarily -- it would make sense to have dedicated distribution points. Not a new network per se, but designated dealers..."

Watch out for our review of the i-MiEV in the next few days.