i MiEV Has World Domination on Its Mind

The Mitsubishi i MiEV may seem like an cute, innocent, egg-like electric vehicle, but recent events show that it has an iron will inside that adorable shape.

On March 27, Mitsubishi announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with one of the swankiest cities on Earth, Monaco. Beginning in late 2009, the company will provide a fleet of i MiEVs to Monaco’s post office, telecom office, and its famous hotels and casinos. The fleet will be testing the car’s “real-world” usability in Monaco, and will eventually include left-hand drive models. (All current i MiEVs are right-hand drive, since they’re built for the Japanese market.)

On April 6, Mitsubishi and Vancouver, B.C., signed an MoU for one car to be added to the city’s official fleet, and one to be added to the power company’s. The city — Canada’s first to participate in Mitsu’s program — could get more i MiEVs as they become available.

No city is safe from the pint-sized EV’s diabolical plans to clean up the atmosphere, not even my own Portland, Oregon. The State of Oregon signed an MoU with Mistubishi on April 10, while local power company PGE signed a Letter of Intent to test the i MiEV. The company is already working to establish a charging network in anticipation of mass-market electric cars.

These three test fleets are in addition to the i MiEV’s presence in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, California, and Europe. The car will actually go on sale for the first time — after obviously extensive on-street testing — in Japan this summer.