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Mitsubishi electric car to cost £33k

  • Government £5000 discount available - it costs £38k without
  • i-MiEV's electric charging costs will be £115 for 12,000 miles
  • Congestion charge and road tax exempt

Written by Parkers Published: 23 March 2010 Updated: 1 February 2017

Mitsubishi's electric car, the i-MiEV, will be available for delivery on January 1 next year but it won't come cheap: it's priced at £38,699 - the same price as a Porsche Cayman.

The electric hatch comes under the government's Consumer Incentive Scheme for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles where buyers are eligible for a £5,000 discount, bring the purchase price down to £33,699.

Although the purchase price is astronomical, Mitsubishi says the zero emissions i-MiEV will be cheap to run: it'll cost £115 in electricity for 12,000 miles of driving.

The Japanese manufacturer says servicing costs should also be affordable since there are only four working parts on the i-MiEV motor compared with the 300 parts in a typical internal combustion engine.

It has a range of 80 miles and a top speed of 81mph. It also features an on-board rapid charging system where an 80% charge will take just 30 minutes.

The i-MiEV is also exempt from road tax and the congestion charge. It is also is eligible for free parking in many London boroughs and UK cities and is in the zero benefit-in-kind company car tax bracket.

Lance Bradley, Mitsubishi Motors UK's Managing Director, said: 'We are aware that, by their very nature, any new technologies always command a premium, which has been true for anything from plasma televisions to cars. Others make price claims and estimations, but we have a real vehicle that is available now and is proven in the real world.'