Mitsubishi will present its i-MiEV for Pikes Peak

The 4,300-metre-high, 1.5-kilometre-long climb up Pikes Peak is the most important competition of its kind in the USA each year, attracting true giants of the discipline and truly impressive machines, such as the Suzuki of Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima, as well as the Hyundai Genesis of Rhys Millen, to name just two. This year, however, there will be another official entry, this time from Mitsubishi, with a special version of the i-MiEV for Pikes Peak.

The only drawback is that Mitsubishi has not been very forthcoming about the new car; it has only said it will be an electric competition prototype that will use the same components as the Mitsubishi i, a similar attempt to the one made by Nissan with its Leaf Nismo RC. The most reliable information we have is two renders of the vehicle, which bear little or no resemblance to an i-MiEV on the street.

The aim is to use the data gathered in the competition to improve the performance of future electric motors in the i-Series and Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid vehicles. It will not go head to head with Tajima’s monstrous Suzuki, but it will certainly make people talk.

The driver in charge of this very particular i-MiEV will be Japanese Hiroshi Masuoka, one of the specialists of the Dakar Rally, when it was held on African soil, with the official Mitsubishi Pajero.

Via | Carscoop