Video: 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEv

Now what this is, is a new model that has been modified for use in the United States. The steering wheel is on the right side, which is to say the left side, and it now meets all of the crash regulations in this country. It will go on sale near the end of 2011. Now we have pretty strict crash regulations here in the US. That makes for larger bumpers. This one, if you asked me, looks a little bit like a PT Cruiser. Now it's added a few inches to the length of the car overall. Same story in the rear. If you ask me, this one looks a little bit like a Nissan Cube, and for the same reason. Larger bumpers, other aspects, hood design, they're not decided just by the designer's pen, they're decided by regulations. Makes it look a little bit different than the one we tested. Now, the interior is similar to the version that we tested before. The materials aren't gonna win any awards, but they're okay. Generally speaking, the seat track, leg room, decent. You might want a little bit more. The headroom is outrageously good 'cause it's such a high car. One thing they did is they made the car wider, about 4.3 inches wider in terms of track. That's the distance between the left and right wheels, which should make it more stable. And we did find it a little bit top heavy. It also could add to the cabin, but some of that is, was added for side crash protection and curtain airbags. So it doesn't necessarily mean you're gonna get more width. The seats, pretty much the same. Now, one thing we've noticed about this car, it might look a little bit like a Smart car on the outside. It's a lot smarter though, because it has four doors and it actually has a backseat that's usable. The seat here, the driver's seats almost all the way back, but it's certainly workable. And in an electric car, one like this one that has roughly 85 miles of range, you're not gonna be back here that long anyway. Now when it comes to the States, the i-MiEV will allow 120 and 240 volt charging. Now what they don't know yet is whether there will be high-speed DC charging. Probably. Might be standard, it might be an option because they can offer it overseas. Now the car is supposed to cost about 30 grand to start, which is a little less than the Nissan LEAF, but it still sounds like quite a bit. One of the things that does have is air cooling for the battery, which is good, but it doesn't have some of the neat tricks, like the ability to get on a smartphone and program it to charge at a certain time or preheat or pre-cool the cabin. So it seems a little bit steep, even after incentives of 7,500 bucks. <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog, kickingtires.net.