Sun shines on Mitsubishi i-MiEV

MITSUBISHI Motors North America (MMNA) has unveiled a solar-powered electric vehicle charging station at its Cypress, California, headquarters.

The charging station is the result of collaboration between MMNA and the North American subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric – the electronics arm of the Japanese corporation.

The charging station will suit the company’s i-MiEV, which will become the first mass-production electric vehicle to be available in Australia when it enters dealerships from August priced from $48,800.

Powered by 96 photovoltaic modules with 175W each, the station can charge up to four vehicles at the same time via three types of chargers with different voltage levels.

The level one setting, with 110 volts, is claimed to fully charge an i-MiEV in 22 hours. The level two setting (220V) takes six hours to do the same job, while level three can charge an i-MiEV from empty to 80 per cent capacity in just 25 minutes.

Left: A Mitsubishi i-MiEV is plugged-in to the solar-powered recharger.

The latter uses the ‘Charge de Move’ (CHAdeMO) fast-charge method developed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company and adopted by Mitsubishi and Nissan, among others.

“We hope that our dealers, learning institutions and municipalities will look to this technology with a keen eye towards the future,” said MMNA president Yoichi Yokozawa.

“Bear in mind that the gradual acceptance of the pure-EV transportation will be aided by increasing the number of facilities like this one.”

Mitsubishi Electric USA says that its lead-free solar panels have one of the highest sunlight-to-energy conversion ratios in the industry.

Company president and CEO Katsuya Takamiya expressed confidence that “this project will build awareness of solar power’s versatility and efficiency.”

The announcement comes two months after General Motors revealed its plans to team up with DT Energy to install the largest photovoltaic solar array in south-east Michigan at the Detroit-Hamtramck factory that produces the Volt plug-in hybrid.

GM said the 516kW project will be capable of generating sufficient electricity to charge 150 Volt vehicles every day for a year, saving the facility about $15,000 a year in power bills over the life of the 20-year easement agreement.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Motors recently unveiled two new versions of the i-MiEV for the Japanese market, including a cheaper entry-level version with a shorter driving range.

The i-MiEV M will have a smaller and lower voltage battery pack than the standard model, while the i-MiEV G has the same motor and battery as the normal car but adds more efficient regenerative braking technology to eke out an extra 20km of driving range.

Mitsubishi said both new variants come as the result of the falling cost of the lithium-ion battery technology. While neither model will be launched in Australia, some of their new features – like regenerative braking and remote-controlled charging – should eventually become available in Australian i-MiEVs.