Mitsubishi i-MiEV Evolution Makes Hill Climb Debut
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) saw its 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) electric vehicle racing team achieve an impressive debut on the 12.42 mile long, 156 corner mountainside race course by recording a second-place finish in the Electric Vehicle class with its Mitsubishi i-MiEV Evolution with a lap time of 10 minutes, 30.850 seconds. The announcement was made Monday, August 13.
Additionally, according to Mitsubishi, the lap time was good enough to finish in 8th place overall from the 170 vehicles entered (132 vehicles recording a lap time/crossing the finish line) in this year’s Pikes Peak event.
Driven by Mitsubishi factory test driver and two-time Dakar Rally winner Hiroshi Masuoka, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV Evolution is a purpose-built racing prototype that was designed for the challenging Pikes Peak race course.
“Although we missed out on capturing the top spot by finishing 2nd in the Electric Division, I’m satisfied that we were able to compete in the challenging driving conditions of this Pikes Peak course using motors and batteries from the production i-MiEV,” said team principal and driver Masuoka after completing the run.
With a starting net value of $21,625 for the well-equipped entry-level ES model (the premium-grade SE version begins at $23,625), the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV is said to be the first of several new alternative-fuel production vehicles that the Japanese auto manufacturer plans on bringing to the North American market in the next few years.
