Finland is the place where the Mitsubishi iMiEV wants to be
Click above for a gallery of the iMiEV
Finland, Finland, Finland. The place the iMiEV wants to be. According to a press release put out by Vemic Auto Co. (and translated/condensed for us by reader Antti), the all-electric jelly bean will be tested by Vemic Auto, the local Mitsubishi importer, this fall. Antti writes that the Finland tests are given just as a small footnote at the end of the release, which mostly talks about the iMiEV in Monaco. We've asked for an English version of the release and to get more information, but haven't heard anything yet. If your Finnish is better than ours, and you read anything in the release (pasted after the jump) that should be mentioned, please do so in the comments. Kiitos to Antti for the tip!
Gallery: Mitsubishi i MiEV - LIVE
[Source: Kauppalehti]
PRESS RELEASE:
VEMIC AUTO: Mitsubishi i MiEV testissä Monacossa
Torstai 08.01.2009 10:00 Hellink
Vemic Auto / Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi i MiEV testissä Monacossa
Mitsubishi Motors vieraili neljän päivän ajan Monacossa osana kampanjaa, jonka tarkoituksena on tietojen kerääminen yhtiön sähköautoprojektin toteutusmahdollisuuksista Euroopassa. Vierailun aikana keskusteltiin i MiEV:in tuotannosta samalla kun monet kansalliset avainryhmät, kuten valtiolliset tahot, energiayhtiöt ja sähköautoilun tukiryhmät, testasivat autoa.
Onnistuneen ohjelman kohokohtana oli Monacon ruhtinaan Albert II:n suorittama koeajo Rivieran ruhtinaskunnan halki. Hänen korkeutensa, joka on vahvasti sitoutunut ympäristön suojeluun mm. itse perustamansa Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation** -säätiön ja muiden aloitteiden kautta, kommentoi koeajoa seuraavasti: "Tulevaisuus on sähköautoissa, ja olen tyytyväinen, että yhtiönne on menossa oikeaan suuntaan. Auto, jolla ajoin tänään, on valmis käyttöön kaupunkialueella. Sen dynamiikka on hyvä ja suorituskyky vastaa tarpeita. Näkisin mielelläni tällaisia päästöttömiä autoja Monacon kaduilla lähitulevaisuudessa."
Lokakuussa 2006 julkistettu i MiEV edustaa Mitsubishi Motorsin vihreän teknologian huippua. i MiEV, johon liittyviä testaus- ja markkinointitoimia on käynnissä tällä hetkellä Japanissa, Uudessa-Seelannissa, Yhdysvalloissa ja Euroopassa, lanseerataan Japanissa kesällä 2009. Suomessa testiautot nähdään syksyllä 2009.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sasha S. 2:52PM (1/11/2009)
Answer from Mitsubishi Netherlands on my inquiry regarding availability of iMiev in NL was that car will be on the market in 2010 and that at present that is all that they can tell me.
Obviously some markets / dealerships in Europe are being chosen as pilots. Finland is a logical choice because of the cold climate (big enemy of batteries) and widespread availability of electrical plugs in parking spots - which are currently used to power heaters which keep the internal combustion engines from freezing in winter months.
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Mika 3:08AM (1/12/2009)
Article says..
"Mitsubishi i MiEV at test in Monaco"
"Mitsubishi motors visited Monaco for four days in part of a campaign, wich main purpose was gathering information for the corporation's electric car-project how feasible it could be in Europe. During the visit, they talked about i MiEV's production while many other international 'key groups' such as state customers, energy companies and electric car supporting groups were testing the car.
The highlight of the succesful event was when Albert the second test drove the car. Albert II who is very seriously committed on preserving the enviroment commented the test drive as follows:
'The future is in electric cars and I'm happy that your company is heading the right direction. The car that I drove today is ready for use in the city. It's dynamics are good and the performance meets its demands. I would love to see this kind of, emissionless, cars in the streets of Monaco in the near future.'
i MiEV, published In October 2006, represents state of the art green technology of Mitsubishi motor's. i MiEV is tested at the moment in Japan, New Zeland, in the States and in Europe. The car will be launched during the summer of 2009 in Japan. In Finland the test cars will be in the autumn of 2009."
So not so much about Finland then ;)
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