Yes, it has finally landed down undah. http://www.caradvice.com.au/60591/mitsubishi-i-miev-preview-electric-cars-land-in-australia/ Australia is finally importing them. Two of them. TWO?!? I'll have to ask Pat Sparks who gets the OTHER one. .
I enquired and these 2 cars are not for sale. I told them it was now or never, looks like never, or at least not for a while. I prefer my EV to have a Toyota pedigree anyway. I heard pricing is expected to be around the $70,000 mark, Prius starts at about $40,000. I would have liked to have seen these made at Tonsley Park here in Adelaide. A factory with a capacity for 300 cars a day would have been ideal for a new global model. Mitsubishi closed up shop here in Australia when the Mitsubishi 380 failed to meet sales targets. Australians like their big cars to have rear wheel drive, the 380 was front wheel drive but from all accounts a nice car. Congratulations Mitsubishi for being the first to get a production EV to Australia, and a very nice car too from what I have read/heard/seen.
Not sure Toyota is going to make another EV any time soon. My guess is Nissan will be your next opportunity. Hill does not live in Australia. It would be a long plane ride. And if you're suggesting stowing away on a jetliner, the cargo hold is probably a nasty place to spend 14 hours. Our best bet would be if Pat could wangle a test drive. But with only two in the country, there might be a long line. You'd think if Mitsubishi was serious they'd have sent over more than two!
That's still a long joyride lol. Pat or any other of our Australian members are our best bet. All we have in Canada are a handful of "government test vehicles". They go through a whole bunch of vehicle tests to see if vehicles are suited for the Canadian public. I have seen them test a diesel 1 series before (I think it was the 120d) as well as the new C-Class diesel and GLK diesel will undergo certification any time now as they're due for launch soon. Can't remember if they're CDI models or the newer Blutec w/ Adblue.
LOL. It may be due to the nature of the website, but if you follow the link and scroll down to the thumbnail pics and click on one... The anti-spam software that makes you enter a word to prove you're not a robot must be programmed to issue car manufacturer names. The first 3 pics I clicked on listed: Chrysler Ford Toyota
