Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport Air concept first pictures

By Ben Pulman

First Official Pictures

26 January 2009 12:29

Mitsubishi will unveil this i MiEV Sport Air concept at the 2009 Geneva motor show, alongside a new eco-version of the facelifted Colt supermini.

You have, sort of, at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Salon. There it was merely the i MiEV Sport, and to be green Mitsubishi has just recycled that concept and given it a removable glass roof fitted with solar panels. Thus we have this new Air concept, apparently allowing the driver 'to enjoy the exhilaration of fresh-air motoring while also highlighting its eco-friendly qualities'.

Beyond that, the Air is much the same as the previous i MiEV Sport, with a battery pack located low in the aluminium spaceframe chassis and electric motors within the front wheels.

It’s our first chance to see Mitsubishi’s new eco-friendly brand. Dubbed ClearTec, the Colts on display at Geneva will feature stop/start system and low rolling resistance tyres (amongst other tech), which will drop the CO2 outputs of the petrol 1.1 and 1.3-litre engines to 115g/km and 119g/km respectively, down from 130g/km and 143g/km.

ClearTec will then be rolled out across the Mitsubishi range and feature on every model bar the Shogun and L200 within the next three years.

By Ben Pulman