BEV_deliveries are scheduled for late fall of 2008.
Wayne Gerdes –
CleanMPG – Aug. 7, 2008
2009 Mitsubishi’s iMiEV BEV in NY City earlier this year.
Tokyo -- Mitsubishi, Southern California Edison (SCE) and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) have forged a unique collaboration for testing and evaluation of the new iMiEV battery electric vehicle (BEV).
Extensive iMiEV testing has been conducted over the past two years with seven major utility companies in Japan. The success of these programs quickened the pace and prompted Mitsubishi Motors to begin selling the BEV in the Japan market in summer of 2009.
Mitsubishi
"The small, four-passenger Mitsubishi iMiEV’s will enter into SCE's nationally-recognized prototype testing and evaluation program,” said Tohru Hashimoto, Corporate General Manager of the iMiEV Business Promotion Office of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. “This collaboration with one of the nation's leading utility supporters of BEV’s will provide us technical feedback on iMiEV vehicle and battery performance, as well as vehicle connection and integration into the electrical system."
Southern California Edison
The rise in interest in BEV’s and other alternative-fuel propulsion systems is dramatically reshaping the way automakers and utility companies think about transportation. Through this program, SCE hopes to help Mitsubishi gauge how electric vehicles will most effectively connect to the smart grid of the future and the next generation Edison SmartConnect™ advanced meters. In addition, the collaboration may explore future requirements for vehicle communication and connection, helping enable new customer values associated with home energy management and control.
"Southern California Edison has more than 20 years and 16 million EV miles of experience operating the nation's largest private fleet of electric vehicles," said Edward Kjaer, SCE's director of electric transportation. "This new EV collaboration with Mitsubishi complements SCE's existing work on plug-in hybrids and next-generation advanced batteries and their effective connection and control by Edison's next-generation meters."
Pacific Gas and Electric
Through daily use, PG&E will gauge the viability of utilizing all-electric vehicles in its operations and further understand the impact of charging electric vehicles on the electric grid. The testing will provide PG&E and Mitsubishi Motors with vehicle usage data, which will be used to publicly demonstrate and validate the many benefits of dedicated electric vehicles within the California market.
"PG&E has been researching the benefits of electric vehicles since the nineties. Partnering with automakers like Mitsubishi is vital to developing compatible infrastructures to support electric vehicles in the marketplace and ensure responsible integration with the grid," said Andrew Tang, senior director of smart energy web for PG&E. "By working with Mitsubishi, we will both benefit from a free exchange of electric vehicle information that includes charging infrastructure availability, vehicle data, vehicle commercialization expectations and public feedback."
The iMiEV BEV, which is based on Mitsubishi's "i" gasoline-powered mini car on sale in Japan, adapts a zero-emissions state-of-the-art electric drivetrain. A durable 330-volt lithium-ion battery system is located under the floor deck and powers a permanent magnet electric motor. With this packaging, the iMiEV is able to offer the same level of interior utility and space as the gasoline version while lowering the center of gravity for more stable handling. The 47 kW electric motor offers improved performance and quicker acceleration than the 64-hp gasoline version.
The advanced lithium-ion battery is developed by the Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi Corporation, GS Yuasa joint venture company and Lithium Energy Japan. LEJ represents the leading edge in battery technology and promises up to *100 miles of zero-emissions, economical driving on a single charge when packaged in the iMiEV.
* 100 miles on the Japan 10-15 Mode Cycle equates to possibly 60 miles on the 08 EPA test cycles.
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