Mitsubishi reportedly doubling iMiEV output to 20,000 a year
Click above for high-res image gallery of the IMiEV
Fresh off of successful trips to Monaco and New Zealand, Mitsubishi is getting ready to crank out more copies of the tiny iMiEV. Just how many people will want an electric-powered jellybean? Mitsubishi thinks about 20,000 a year. That's the number of iMiEV vehicles that the company will be able to make each year by fiscal 2011, if unsourced reports in the Japanese newspaper Nikkei are correct. 20,000 is about twice as many as Mitsubishi initially thought they would make each year. 2,000 are on the drawing board for delivery to corporate clients this year. Starting next fall, the lithium-ion battery joint venture between Mitsubishi and GS Yuasa will add another production line at its Shiga prefecture facility and the iMiEV will go on sale in Japan in fiscal 2010.
Gallery: i-MiEV in HD
[Source: Nikkei via Marketwatch, Bloomberg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
paulwesterberg 11:26AM (4/03/2009)
Tell people they can fill up at home and don't need to pay for gas and they will buy.
Mitsubishi should buy a GM production plant for peanuts and start making them here. If they can build them for $20k they will need 10x the capacity.
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gorr 11:51AM (4/03/2009)
Do someone know when a normal regular car driver will buy for himself or herself a regular priced and regular performance green car ? I won't buy this car if it's priced over 15 000$ and fitted with a small gasoline electrical recharger and performance enhancer. This thing as it is now is dangeurous to put on the roads. Cannot go on vacation with that except if it's a demonstration tour with multiple stops to show the car 6 hours each 120 miles.
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Richard in FLA 2:08PM (4/03/2009)
Gorr, it sounds to me like you can't afford a new car anyway. Maybe a used HYdrogen auxilarry with a Flux Capacitor is right up your alley? I can't even make out what your first question is saying! $15K? You can buy a cheap Scion for that! Maybe a Hyundai. You're not buying anything you want though.
jharlan 12:22PM (4/03/2009)
20,000 units a year for this one model? How many hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are all manufacturers world wide going to crank out in the next year? I have noticed you HFCV fanatics have gotten pretty quiet lately. It's kind of like EVs RULE!!!
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GoodCheer 1:46PM (4/03/2009)
C'mon man, no need to kick 'em when they're down. Everybody knows they've not got much fight left in them.
Also. I have to think that 20,000/year *For the whole world* seems like an astonishingly low number. I suppose conservativism is an important survival trait even in the smaller more flexible automotive companies.
Dave 1:57PM (4/03/2009)
I'd love to have one of these for my daily driver. I never drive more than 70 miles in a day. If I need to go further, we can use our other car (a Prius).
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Gary 3:29PM (4/03/2009)
In related news: 20,000 more people per year will not be getting laid.
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Stew 2:11AM (4/04/2009)
Lol, that was pretty funny! If it's the first BEV to market, I will be one of the first in line though. I'm married so I don't have to worry about that first thing!
polo 6:57PM (4/03/2009)
Whats with the jellybean jokes? The VW beetle was pretty much a huge hit, and this looks bigger than that.
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jharlan 3:55PM (4/03/2009)
GoodCheer, I only rub the HFCV dreamers because they always treat the rest of us like we're stupid.
That 20,000 units in the next year is the Mitsubishi iMiev alone. You can imagine all the other EV manufacturers gearing up for mass production. You snooze, you lose.
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Ben 9:47PM (4/04/2009)
I'm beginning to count the days when I can frequent electric car dealerships to "test" drive them or beg my friends to let me drive theirs while I wait for mine. The traditional iMiEV is my first choice, but others are coming up the track. Indeed I wish Mitsu would start building them in former GM factories in Michigan. ...for that matter I wish Michigan would increase its wind turbine and pv production so we could both diversify how we supply the rest of the country and insure we wouldn't need "outside" (the state) sources of power.
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PeakOyle 8:30AM (4/04/2009)
As soon as they are in the showrooms I'll be borrowing against my house to get one.
Also sex is over-rated. I'd rather have a decent EV as opposed to sex with a superficial woman.
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