Mitsubishi iMIEV já pode ser alugado em Portugal

Do Mobi.e: O primeiro carro eléctrico da Mitsubishi já se encontra à disposição de todos aqueles que o queiram experimentar. Desde 1 de Janeiro já é possível alugar o i-MiEV nos stands Sixt rent a car, em Portugal.

Em comunicado, a empresa alemã de aluguer de automóveis garante disponibilizar "uma tarifa diária exclusiva para este lançamento de modo a satisfazer a curiosidade daqueles que gostam de conhecer novas formas de mobilidade, entrando assim no futuro".

A integração do i-MiEV no serviço de aluguer de veículos, faz parte da "estratégia que a Sixt tem delineada para 2011, que consiste na prestação de serviços e automóveis de qualidade superior não esquecendo a inovação".

Portugal foi o primeiro país europeu a receber o i-MiEV. Segundo a marca japonesa, Portugal «foi seleccionado como um dos mercados prioritários para o lançamento do i-MiEV, sendo o primeiro país na Europa a iniciar a sua comercialização, um ano depois de o veículo eléctrico da Mitsubishi ter sido lançado no Japão».

O veículo citadino de quatro lugares possui uma autonomia de 150 quilómetros, zero emissões de CO2 e baixo nível de ruído, e pode ser agora alugado num dos quatro stands da Sixt rent a car, nomeadamente nos aeroportos de Lisboa, Porto, Faro e Funchal.

Até Março, a Mitsubishi prevê produzir "11 mil unidades do i-MiEV e, a partir de 2012 a produção do i-MiEV será superior às 40 mil unidades por ano".

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5 electric vehicle predictions for 2011 by PluginCars.com

PluginCars.com's John Gartner is not alone when he says that 2011 will be the year of the revenge of the electric car, but he reveals some interesting key trends identified by Pike Research in this white paper. Some can be summarized in these 5 electric vehicle predictions for 2011. Having worked in the media industry, I cannot help myself but laugh at #5. So true.

1 - The majority of people who drive a plug-in vehicle won't own it. Thanks to car rental fleets, taxis, and car share programs, getting people into plug-in vehicles will be more influential in the long run than getting them to sign on the dotted line.


2 - Automakers will get push back from EV owners about how long it takes vehicles to fully charge. Most vehicle charging will be done overnight, enabling owners to wake up to a fully charged battery without concern for the rate at which it was charged. But because automakers decided to take the cautious (and less expensive) approach of installing onboard charging equipment that provides a maximum of 3.3 kW to the batteries, a full charge will take longer than necessary leaving some consumers feeling like they overpaid for charging equipment.


3 - The most popular selling EVs won't have four wheels. Electric two-wheeled vehicles, including bicycles, scooters and motorcycles are a huge global market that will continue to overshadow electric passenger vehicles for the foreseeable future. China is by far the largest market, with more than 48 million sales projected. In North America, the sale of two-wheeled EVs will outnumber passenger PEVs by approximately 8:1 in 2011, but the gap will be narrowed to close to 2 to 1 by 2015 as passenger vehicles sales will grow much more quickly.


4 - Many EV charging stations will spend the majority of their time idle. The strategy of installing a network of charging equipment may be good psychologically for EV owners and the automakers, but the business benefit for the owners of charging equipment will be lacking during the early days of EV sales. During 2011 and 2012 there will not be sufficient penetration of EVs for charging spots to see many visits–if any—per day.


5 - Somebody somewhere will have a bad EV experience and the media will overreact. The first time a driver is left "stranded" by running out of charge will be cause célèbre for the doubters to highlight the superiority of gas cars. The potential also exists for EV owner frustration if the promised all-electric driving range advertised is not realized. Heavy-footed drivers and trips taken in extreme weather will substantially cut into driving efficiency, but that should not be a surprise or especially noteworthy.

Read more of it and get the white paper at PluginCars.com

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Paris unveils electric car scheme

For a 12€ monthly fee, those 58% of Parisians who do not own a car will be able to use one of the 3,000 Bolloré Bluecars for short journeys around the city, starting in fall 2011. The self-service car scheme, named Autolib, is based on the famous Vélib cycle-sharing system that Paris developed in 2007 and other international cities are now adopting and adapting, or simply put, copying.

The electric, french-made four-seat Bluecar comes with its own GPS and is able to travel for 250 km (155 miles) between charges and has an estimated to speed of 130 kph (80 mph). Charging will take 4 hours at any of the 3,000 self-service plug-in stations being built across the city and its suburbs.

Drivers will pay 5€ for the first half an hour of use, 4€ for the next and 6€ for each subsequent 30-minute slot, to encourage short time trips. The prices will make the Bluecar an interesting alternative to Parisian taxis.

The mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe expects the plan to attract between 160,000 and 200,000 subscribers.

Source: The Guardian

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IKEA sponsors EV rental in Sweden

Eco-friendly furniture giant IKEA is sponsoring five blue and yellow electric vehicles in Gothenburg.

The EVs - two Finnish made Th!nk City and three electric Fiat 500 - belong to Move About's electric car pool in the Swedish city.

"The sponsorship allows us to keep the rental price for electric cars at the same level for regular cars, despite the fact that electric cars are more expensive than regular ones", the car sharing company's CEO Ulf Jakobsson told Swedish tech magazine Ny Teknik. 'IKEA Family' members get a 50% discount.

Move About is Scandinavia's first EV rental company and operates in Oslo, Copenhagen and Gothenburg. 98% of IKEA's consumpted energy in Sweden comes from renewable sources.

Hat tip to Think EV

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Hertz goes electric in NYC on December 15

From the New York Times: Early adopters unwilling to drop around $32,000 on a new Nissan Leaf will be able to rent that and several other electric cars from Hertz as soon as next week. On Monday, Hertz announced it would be adding electric cars and plug-in hybrids to its urban and college fleets worldwide, starting with New York City, where they’ll be available in Connect at Hertz car-sharing locations beginning Dec. 15.

Hertz has begun taking reservations for electric cars at Hertzev.com. The rental company is planning to offer the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Smart electric drive, Nissan Leaf, Coda sedan and Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid to Connect customers. Hundreds of electric and plug-in hybrids will enter company fleets through the Hertz Global EV initiative over the next few months in New York, Washington and San Francisco, Hertz said. International rollouts are also planned in Britain and China.

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