U.S. Mitsubishi dealers will get electric vehicles

Mitsubishi Motor Corp. will introduce a small electric car to sell at its U.S. dealerships.

The model, a Japan-built ultra-compact with a 330-volt lithium-ion battery, is currently being road-tested in Oregon. Mitsubishi plans to begin marketing the car in Japan in July, and to introduce the car in Europe in 2010.

The U.S. market launch is tentatively scheduled to occur after Europe's.

Mitsubishi has been showing the model to audiences around the world in recent weeks, dubbed the i MiEV. A left-hand-drive version of the i MiEV was shown at the New York auto show.

Moe Durand, a product spokesman for Mitsubishi Motors North America, said no price has been set for the U.S. version of the EV. The Japanese version will sell for about $30,000, after government subsidies are deducted.

The car will undergo changes for the U.S. market, including a slight widening of the body. But it will remain largely as is--a model designated as a "kei car" in Japan, representing vehicles that are roughly the size of Daimler's Smart car.

Durand said the U.S. version will have two rows of seats.

"This is smaller than a B-segment car," Durand said. "We're not going to make it bigger. The beauty of the car is its size."

The decision to sell the EV in the United States follows a pattern emerging at Mitsubishi to reposition itself as a small-car brand.

By Lindsay Chappell- Automotive News