Consumer Reports says the Mitsubishi i electric is not a usable vehicle

Lately, the people at Consumer Reports have been harsher than usual when rating hybrid or electric vehicles. In our previous mention of them, they tore into so-called eco-friendly cars with the blunt conclusion that “they are not worth it”, and now it is the Mitsubishi i that has fallen under the critical pen of this publication.

The verdict has been blunt: the Mitsubishi i is an electric vehicle that is not usable due to its poor range, according to long-term tests by Consumer Reports, which began in January. While the Japanese brand has announced that the car has a range of 128 kilometers, CR’s tests have shown that it barely exceeds 96 kilometers of range under varying temperature conditions.

We make clear that the “usable” verdict applies in an environment like North America, where journeys can be much longer than in a familiar urban setting such as European cities. The small Mitsubishi also benefits from the fact that its batteries are smaller than those of a Nissan Leaf, for example, and that for this reason its price is much cheaper than that of the Nissan product.

It is still a negative point for Mitsubishi that CR’s rating has sent the i crashing down. But CR’s arguments are entirely logical: we buy a car and invest money in electric technology for every occasion, not just to drive a couple of kilometers every day to work or to the nearest shopping center; and to make matters worse, in an uncomfortable and poorly finished car.

Via | CR