Mitsubishi has brought the cost of its electric car, the
MiEV, into line with rivals by
slashing nearly £10,000 off the originally quoted price.
The Japanese manufacturer was the first to announce a price tag for its
electric car back in March, when it said it would sell for £38,699
before any government discounts were applied, but now it will cost
£28,990.
With the government's £5,000 incentive for electric and low-emission
vehicles applied, the iMiev will cost from £23,990 when it goes on sale
on 1 January next year.
A spokesman for the company said that he couldn't reveal the precise
reason for the cuts, saying: ''Mitsubishi is constantly monitoring
market forces, including production costs. The equation is very
complex.''
Now that the final price has been announced and the value of the car
after three years can be estimated, the company can work out how much it
can lease the MiEV for.
Mitsubishi has confirmed it will only offer a leasing package for the
whole car, and not battery and the car separately, as Renault has said
it will.
The company has also announced specification for the small electric car,
which will come with alloy wheels, keyless entry, heated driver's seat
and wing mirrors, leather interior and a manual air conditioning system.
The car should be capable of travelling 80 miles between charges and can
be re-juiced from empty to full in 9 hours. An 80 percent charge takes
just 30 minutes.
