The Mitsubishi i: No That’s not a Typo:
Anyhow, despite the name, the i is a fantastic Japanese automobile, though it is little-known outside of Japan. You’ll notice it looks an awful lot like a Smart Car, but with a few advantages that make it more practical and more fun. First, the i is a four-seater with four doors. The car is larger than the Smart Car, and thus considerably roomier. However, it’s stil a tiny car, making it practical mostly for big-city use.
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Mitsubishi is planning on releasing the car in the UK soon. Their UK managing director says of the i:“The i offers a genuine alternative in a congested market. Its diminutive dimensions make it an ideal choice for the forward-thinking city dweller, but it’s also capable on the open road. In Japan, the i has already become a cult car and we’re confident that its space and sophistication, coupled with Mitsubishi’s reputation for quality and reliability, will also make it a hit in the UK.”
There’s no news on the U.S. launch. Likely, this is because no one in America would buy one. Alas.
Additional exciting i news? Indeed there is. Mitsubishi is eyeing a 2010 launch for an all-electric lithium-ion version of the i called the i MIEV.
Yes, the name doth sucketh. Hint to companies worldwide: Never use a product or project name that looks like you dropped something on your keyboard. (In Mitsu’s defense, one web site, “‘i’ is a play on the Japanese word ‘ai’ meaning love, which emphasises the car’s people and eco-friendly properties. It is also designed to be intelligent, innovative and imaginative.”.
The bigger issue is what will it take for this car to be accepted in the US market? I thoroughly reject the notion that “Americans will never buy a little car”. I see a lot of cars on the road here in Rochester about the size of the i, and I strongly suspect that an established company could sell enough of them, since they’re already in production and being sold in other markets, to be worth the expense of making them meet US regulations and laws, advertising, etc. Mitsubishi would definitely qualify as one of the companies desperate enough in the US market to take such a gamble.
But what price per gallon for gasoline (or what pattern of intermittent shortages) would it take to make the i more than a niche product in the US? My gut feeling, based on nothing but, well, my gut, is that we’re already pretty close to that point now.
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August 28th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Small cars need to be priced even smaller to get high volume sales. The people who ought to have these small cars are the working poor who are stuck using the old gas guzzlers built 10+ years ago. In my neck of the prairie (southern Iowa) small old cars are non-existant. It took me five months to find a decent mileage car (25 mpg) to replace the Kia which was totalled in January. It was on the market only because the owner died. Big old SUVs for under $1000 are parked in every other front yard with a for sale sign.
August 28th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Certainly regarding the comment “There’s no news on the U.S. launch. Likely, this is because no one in America would buy one. Alas.” has been debunked pretty well if one cares to look around some.
The fact that Daimler was moved to bring the Smart to the US after that private company dredged up a huge amount of orders for Smart’s here (planning to bring them over from Europe I think), shows that there is a market for auto’s like this. It won’t be huge, but even the populations that live in large cities, with tight city parking spaces etc., are not insignificant numbers of potential customers.
August 28th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
tom: You touched on an issue I mention to peak oil newbies all the time: What will that shiny new truck or SUV you just bought be worth in four years if US gasoline is $5 or $6/gallon? Perhaps it’s my economics training or my inherent thriftiness, but I’m constantly amazed at how many people are obviously stunned when I ask that question and then admit they never thought of resale value. I tell them that if their plan is to switch to a much more efficient vehicle when gasoline gets expensive, they’ll be competing with millions of other Americans with the same plan, all selling gas guzzlers (driving the resale value to nothing) and all trying to buy the same limited supply of high MPG cars (driving up those prices). That’s when they get very worried.
I remember in 1980 (1979? 1981?) a Honda dealer in Binghamton, NY adding a $1,500 “market adjustment” to Civics because demand was so high. Several people I worked with had Civics that they’d driven for a few years and then sold for more than the original price. And just last year, when I was shopping for my Scion xA, I saw one-year-old Civics selling for more than they did new. I suspect we’ll see that kind of market again in the US within a few years.
August 29th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I’ve got to get in touch with the local Mitsubshi dealer to see how/if I can get a “Challenge X” project using this platform! Instead of green-washing a SUV we should be doing it to a platform that stands a chance of being around a while.
It has soooo much to gain by being converted into a series hybrid. Mitsu seems to also be chasing the pipe dream of an all electric car with wonder batteries that are always in the future.
I would not touch said wonder batteries until they have some history behind them - and it better be in a climate like ours with -30C winters. NiCd and NiMh batteries are good right now as are deep discharge batteries.
I frankly don’t see the point in an all electric unless the batteries are proven and much better than what currently exists. Just find stats on battery efficiency with temperature - and then tell me what they’re good for in the winter (hint efficiency drops dramatically for charging and discharging)! Hint expect upto 50% drops in efficiency (Li, lead acid)!! Batteries are based upon chemcial reactions and temperature matters a lot.
I’d rather cut my emissions and double my mileage by having a series hybrid. A small 5hp engine that is designed to do one thing - put out 5hp is much more efficient than an engine which tries to optimize emissions, power and efficiency across a wide range of RPMs.
Monbiot had an interesting point in one of his books - slower is more efficient; be it boats or planes or cars. Jets will give way to prop planes as they’re signif more efficient. Cargo boats are much more efficient than high speed cruise liners like the QE II or modern ships.
I’m also very partial to a series hybrid EV where the engine is running all of the time in order to provide heat for fall/spring/winter. While it’s neat seeing a Prius engine turn off when idling and then watch the car drive away without the IC engine starting - the fact is that in cold climates the Prius engine always runs when it’s cold - an IC engine must be warm/hot to work efficient and cycling them isn’t good due to condensation ….