All About Design

In March at the Geneva Motor Show, Mitsubishi will unveil the i MiEV SPORT AIR concept, which refines the ideas first displayed in the Tokyo 2007 i MIEV Sport show car. The i MiEV SPORT ‘AIR’ is a new-age ”pocket rocket” and signals the direction in which the Mitsubishi sports EV may take in the future.

The standard i-MiEV will be Mitsubishi’s first mass produced all-electric car and is currently scheduled for a 2010 launch in Japan. However, the company plans to start real world trials for the car in Japan, Europe and the U.S. later this year. It will have a driving range of roughly 100 miles and should take about seven hours to charge from a household power outlet. In an attempt to curtail long charge times, a ‘quick-charge’ pack is also being developed by power companies, which will see the i-MiEV’s battery being charged to 80% of its capacity in just 35 minutes.

Inside, i MiEV SPORT AIR offers a welcoming ambience in a design that uses organic shapes and lighting to create a comfortable and restful space. The wrap-around cockpit design, on the other hand, is styled to alert the driver to the high performance potential of the car the moment he sits behind the wheel. The main controls and switches are all ergonomically grouped around the dial-type shifter, making for more positive location and operation by the driver. Mitsubishi’s proprietary Green Plastics are used for the carpeting, the seat back panels and side covers.

The electric motor in the i-MiEV Sport Air Concept is rated at 80hp (60kW) and 170lb-ft (230Nm) but the torquey powerplant isn’t the vehicle’s only performance aspect. To lower the center of gravity and increase driving stability the main EV system components (battery module, inverter, battery charger) are located as low as possible. The body structure also uses plastic panels to reduce weight around the rear axle where the powertrain and EV system components are installed and thereby achieve an ideal 50:50 front/rear weight distribution.

Tags: battery module, body structure, center of gravity, cockpit design, dial type, electric car, geneva motor show, green plastics, Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport Air Concept, organic shapes, performance aspect, pocket rocket, rear axle, seat back, seven hours, show car, sport show, torquey, weight distribution

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 6:45 am and is filed under concept car. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.