New Cars Rombengan 2011 - 2020

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".

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