The Mitsubishi i-Miev, the most affordable EV in Canada, is being discontinued from our market after the 2017 model year. While there is no immediate replacement coming from the brand, they will have a different plug-in option arriving soon.
The five-door hatchback i-Miev was launched in 2009, with Canadian sales starting at the end of 2011. One of the first mass-market EVs, it had a 96 km range from a 16 kWh battery.
But sales never took off. The best year for the i-Miev was 2012 when Mitsubishi sold 196 in Canada. The total for last year was just 86. US sales weren't much better, at just 95 last year.
The i-Miev will motor off into the sunset after the 2017 model year. A Mitsubishi Canada spokesman said that the company doesn't have immediate plans for a replacement. That doesn't mean that they are giving up on cars with plugs. There is a plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander SUV arriving soon.
An email statement from Mitsubishi said that they "can confirm that our technological tour-de-force, Outlander PHEV, will arrive in Canada in the 2018 model year."
The plug-in Outlander has a 12 kWh lithium-ion battery and two electric motors. Combined with a 2.0L gas engine, the system makes 200 hp and 285 lb-ft of torque. It can travel up to 53 km on battery power alone on the European test cycle. The plug-in hybrid has been available in Europe for a few years and has sold well. Well enough to account for half of all plug-in hybrids sold in the UK since 2010.
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