Mitsubishi Releases World's First Mass-Produced Electric Car

Today Mitsubishi motors officially released its all electric car, the MiEV (which means, in perfect Japanese-English fashion, "Mitsubishi In-wheel motor Electric Vehicle"). They got a jump start on other car makers like Nissan and Peugeot who will release their own electric cars later this year (sorry, but I don't consider Tesla to be "mass produced.") The MiEV is butt-ugly, but then so is the Prius and that didn't stop a million hippies from running out and buying one. Actually, the MiEV might cause a mini-revolution in the "look at me, I drive a green car" segment. Now that there is a true zero emission vehicle on the market, people will think if you drive a hybrid you are an eco terrorist.

The price of the MiEV starts at about $35,000, and that is AFTER $15,000 is tax breaks and other insentives from the government. They have a regular gas version for $10,000 that gets a very respectable 45 MPG. So, if you consider that most people driving compact cars spend about $1,000 a year on gas, that means you would only have to drive the MiEV for 20 years to recoup your investment over the gas version. Hey, it's Japanese, it will still be running then.