Electric cars - In March this year, Mitsibushi announced that the i-MiEV would sell in the UK for £38,699 once launched. This is before applying the government's electric vehicle £5,000 subsidy.
However, with the recent announcement that the Sunderland built Nissan Leaf will be some £10,000 less, then Mitsibushi have done the inevitable and also lowered the price of the i-MiEV electric vehicle which is due to be delivered to customers in the UK from January 2011.
Mitsubishi will sell the i-MiEV at £23,990 (after subsidy so £28,990 in total) which is surprise, surprise, exactly the same price as the Nissan Leaf. This has to be good news for potential electric vehicle buyers and shows that in some respects the market is beginning to work with regards electric cars. Although utlimately it remains to be seen if that is still too much for consumers to pay. It is more than likely that assistance is going to continue to be needed for the near future.
Both the Leaf and M-iEV are nice cars and good examples of where having an electric vehicle does not mean sacrificing space or speed or style. They have different design origins, the Leaf being a purpose built electric vehicle whilst the M-iEV is a petrol based conversion. Which will be more popular int he UK? We need to wait and see when they go head to head early next year.