In a statement posted at Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia's website, Mitsubishi's first electric car will be on display at the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) at the KL Convention Centre, between 3-December to 5-December.
Update : Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia managed to secure the prototype i MiEV for display at non-public event like IPTC mainly because the same unit will be in display at the 25th Motor Expo Thailand. However with the current situation in Thai airports, alternative logistic arrangements will have to be looked into. Hopefully the i MiEV will make its way to KLIA on time.
More details on the i MiEV in Malaysia here.
While most manufacturers are wowing international car show crowds with their fancy EV creations, the i MiEV is widely regarded to be closest to production ready form. Of course, by production ready form, I am refering to a decent sized vehicle that mainstream buyers can consider, not ultra niche market items like Tesla Roadster or even G-Whiz (Reva). Closer to the Asia Pacific region, Australia is widely rumoured to sell the i MiEV in as early as late 2009. The Aussie automotive press have been rife with reports that the management of Mitsubishi Australia is lobbying very hard to its principal company Mitsubishi Motors in Japan to have the i MiEV the honour of being the first EV on sale in Australia.
Australia has overnight became a hotspot for EV development. Back in October, the Shai Agassi (which was mentioned previously by this blog here), the founder of Project Better Place announced that Australia will become Project Better Place's third adopter of its revolutionary telco inspired business model, after Denmark and Israel. San Francisco is the fourth and latest adopter while Norway and Sweden is said to be in various stages of discussion to join Project Better Place. Australia, due to its hot climate and vastly different driving patterns from Danish and Israeli drivers (longer distance), will be used as a "validator country" to prove Better Place's scalable model is applicable anywhere. Project Better Place will initially use vehicles provided by Renault-Nissan and it is unclear how does Mitsubishi fits into the picture. But I believe Aussie Premier Kevin Rudd's government plan is to expand adoption of EV, not just any specific manufacturer's EV. Afterall, Project Better Place in Australia is partly funded by Aussie government's AUD 500 million Green Car Innovation Fund, whose first benefictary was Toyota Motor Australia's assembly of the Camry Hybrid in TMCA's Altona plant.
Alternative energy sources will used to generate electricity to power EVs. Australian power utility company AGL will be generating electricity from renewable sources to power Australia's EV recharge grid.
Better Place is only possible with significant commitment from the government. The Danish, Israeli, Australian government and San Francisco mayor are seriously working to reduce their country's dependence on oil. The Japanese government is also said to be heavily subsidising research and production of plug-in EVs.
B is for regenerative braking to provide "engine" braking while recharging the batteries faster. Eco mode is a special range extending function which reduces the power output slightly.
Images courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors Sales America.
A quick check at IPTC's website revealed that besides Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia, Toyota's distributor in Malaysia UMW Toyota Motor will also be participating. And UMW Toyota's participation is on an a lot bigger scale, occupying 4 booths (Mitsubishi only took 1 booth)! This would suggest that their Prius (2nd generation model) will also be on display. But Mitsubishi's display will surely be more interesting. The second generation Prius have been on sale since 2003 in Japan, while Mitsubishi's i MiEV is clearly the next step up from a conventional hybrid.
Image from andymervingeorge.com
UMWT has been maintaining 2 units of Prius for local evaluation. It is however not the only 2 Prius in Malaysia as there are a couple of privately imported Prius running around as well.
I am quite sure the 3rd generation Prius will not be on display as the car will only make its global debut in January 2009 Detroit Motor Show while the Prius PHEV prototypes are still undergoing trial in Japan and UK.
Not sure why was Honda Malaysia was not invited to participate. After all they are the first company to sell hybrid cars in the ASEAN region (the previous 7th generation Civic Hybrid in Singapore and to a very limited extent, Malaysia). Surely they deserve far more recognition than either Mitsubishi or Toyota. Then again, it's difficult (at least from this end of the line) to see what is the objective of these cars being displayed in an oil and gas conference.
The International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) is an international oil & gas conference and exhibition. The event is to rotate in various venues in the Eastern Hemisphere. The scope of the conference programme and associated industry activities will address technology and relevant industry issues that challenge industry specialists and management around the world, particularly in the gas business and certain overarching issues such as HSSE, HR and training.
The IPTC is a collaborative effort among the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE); the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG); the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG); and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE). The synergy of these four, leading, individual-member driven societies provides the most comprehensive opportunity to form multi‑disciplinary committees and an outstanding technical programme. More here.
The IPTC is a collaborative effort among the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE); the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG); the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG); and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE). The synergy of these four, leading, individual-member driven societies provides the most comprehensive opportunity to form multi‑disciplinary committees and an outstanding technical programme. More here.
2 comments:
Yea that cute little bugger. The only time I did see it outside of the KLIMS 2006 was at SS2. Guess the drivers can't resist good food too.
It is interesting to note that as everyone's attention in the mitsubishi's booth was drawn towards the Evo 9, annoying Chinese fanboys (decadents to the Chinese race) lining up to take pictures of the Evo 9, I was more interested in the packaging of the iCar... simply put it...its brilliant. Sad to say that nobody was paying attention.
Too bad with the Malaysian pricing system favoring the tiny Savvy and Viva, it would impossible to see this little gem compete in the same price range when it is suppose to come here.
Only 1 unit of the i was ever registered locally. That unit belongs to Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia. After KLIMS, they gave a few journalists to have go at it.
Spotted one on the road myself too.
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