Enlarge imageMitsubishi has announced the on-sale price of the electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV: £38,699. This will be reduced by £5,000 from 1st January 2011 thanks to the government's recently announced Consumer Incentive Scheme.
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is one of the best electric cars that Green-Car-Guide has driven, but even so, a price of nearly £40,000 for a small city car with a limited range may come as a surprise to many people.
If you want to do the maths to work out how long it would take to get a return on the purchase price, then it does come with a number of incentives including:
* Only £115 fuel costs for 12,000 miles driving (£0.96 pence for a full charge)
* Low servicing costs and downtime - only approximately 4 working parts compared to over 300 in a typical internal combustion engine
* Exempt from road tax (saving approx £300 per annum)
* First year capital allowances for fleet vehicles
* Zero benefit-in-kind company car tax
* Lower rate of VAT for domestic electricity
* Exempt from congestion charge (saving up to £2,000 per annum)
* Free parking in many London boroughs and cities such as Milton Keynes
* Expected high residual values due to high demand outstripping supply for several years to come
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As well as coming with zero CO2 tailpipe emissions, it has a top speed 81 mph, a range of 80 miles, a seating capacity of 4 adults plus luggage, 12-months / 12,500 miles service intervals and a 3-year warranty and pan-European accident and breakdown cover.Equipment includes ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) with EBD (Electronic Brake-force Distribution), brake assist, ASC (Active Stability Control), alloy wheels, all-round electric windows, central door locking with keyless entry, driver's and front passenger's SRS front airbags, and side and curtain air bags.
It comes with an on-board recharging system with cable (flat-to-full in 6-hours, 240V 13 A input) and an-board rapid charging system (flat-to-80 in 30 minutes).
The European Whole Type Vehicle Approved i-MiEV has been engineered to achieve a target Euro NCAP crash test rating of 4-stars.
Mitsubishi will be offering a bespoke accessory programme for the i-MiEV.
Mitsubishi says that its newly opened Electric Vehicle Centre in Central London has already taken its first orders for delivery in January, and enquiry levels have soared following the Government's consumer incentive announcement on 25th February.
The Mitsubishi Electric Vehicle Centre has been operational for customer enquiries and demonstrations since mid-February and customers can contact the Centre on 0207 546 8331 or via email at imiev@mitsubishi-cars.co.uk
Keywords: Mitsubishi i-MiEV price, Mitsubishi Electric Vehicle Centre
