Bright spark takes to our roads

The Mitsubishi iMiEV is based on the company's iCar, and is charged overnight from a standard socket. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Sustainable motoring is the new holy grail, with electrically powered cars a hot favourite to lead motoring into the future. Provided large-scale sustainable power generation is also developed, of course.

Mitsubishi has long sold the benefits of plug-in cars and has brought two to New Zealand to try on local roads.

What's new?
Bar the dash instruments and fancy paintwork, the iMiEV looks like Mitsubishi's tiny iCar. But the petrol tank, engine and transmission have gone, replaced by a lithium-ion dry cell battery stack and an electric motor.

Quick-charging is available in some countries but here, it plugs into a standard socket and will charge overnight. Mitsubishi envisages timed switches to draw power at cheaper night rates.

The company line
Production of the first 2000 cars starts in July; Mitsubishi NZ hopes to secure some for sale at low volume next year. Meanwhile, its two evaluation cars go home next month.

Safety isn't an issue says Mitsubishi. It's crash-tested prototypes, with an official safety rating to come from production cars. Meanwhile, trip switches will break circuits in a crash while mechanics can isolate the battery.

The average commute is about 40km a day so range isn't seen as a problem, nor is the lack of fast-charging facilities here.

What we say
Forget where the power comes from, this thing works. It's actually better than the iCar around town. That the petrol will drive further matters little with a city car like this, which is designed for commuting rather than extended open-road jaunts. Better still, the system does not intrude into the cabin or boot so there's as much (or as little) space as the car on which it's based. It's quieter of course, with only a faint whine under braking or at speed. Battery life is a minor issue - Mitsubishi expects mildly reduced range after 10 years.

On the road
The iMiEV proved impressive on Wellington's real-world roads. Like all electric motors this one delivers peak torque from basement revs. Though it has the same 47kW as the standard car, at 180Nm it boasts double the torque so there's plenty to offset the 180kg additional weight.

You can't spin the tyres - only because the electronic control unit (ECU) prevents you. Otherwise it darted briskly into traffic, dispatched motorway speeds with casual ease, and wriggled its way effortlessly up and down Mt Victoria with better handling than the standard car, due to the lower centre of gravity.

It sucked the power down at speed though - with 7/14ths battery capacity gone in 27km. But regenerative braking meant back in town, another 11km registered no drain at all.

Why you'd buy one
It sends the right low-emissions image: charging per 100km is cheaper than petrol and with sustainable power generation from wind, waves or sunshine, the car's global footprint would be limited to its manufacture and scrap.

Why you won't
They're not on sale yet - and when they are, they'll cost a lot.