Mitsubishi I

One of the smallest electric cars to hit the market is the Mitsubishi I-MiEV. This is a five-door hatchback and it is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. This car has zero drive time emissions plus it also has a driving range of 150 km’s when it is fully charged. The car has three different driving modes. Standard mode is for when driving in normal conditions and maximum power. Eco mode is for efficient energy use and finally B mode is for regenerative braking which is used to convert the vehicle's momentum into powering the battery especially when driving down steep hills. The electric motor is small and lightweight. This provides quieter and more sportier driving. It has a top speed of 130km/h. The motor produces 49kW of power and 180Nm, this delivers maximum torque in an instant even when at low speeds. The power is transferred straight to the wheels resulting in reduced energy lose. The battery is a Lithium-ion battery pack that has 88 cells and these are placed inside a waterproof battery pack which is located inside the body frame and also enclosed in a well-crib frame. This is to protect them against impact damage from any direction. The battery can be fully charged in 7 hours. You can charge this using a 15Amp household socket. There is also a socket so it can be connected to a Quick charge outlet. Using this the battery can be charged to 80% in as little as 30 minutes. The dimensions of the car are only 3475mm from the front end to the rear. So for car rental in sydney this makes the car just right for driving in the city. The car has 6 SRS airbags which include side and curtain airbags. These help protect the driver and passenger plus the seatbelts have force limiters for added crash protection. The car also has ASC - Active Stability Control. In Europe the (Euro NCAP) European New Car Assessment Programme awarded the i-MiEV a four star car safety rating. The sound system in the vehicle features a USB port with Ipod compatibility and Bluetooth hands-free.There are four speakers in the front however none in the rear. Optional extras could include an AVN system which would add DVD video playback, a 7-inch touchscreen and Satellite Navigation with traffic updates. There is also plenty of cargo space; with four passengers on board there is 235 litres of cargo space which can be enhanced when both the rear seats are folded back you get a lot more cargo space that goes upto 860 litres of cargo space. It also has an enviable rating when it comes to efficiency. 112 MPGe with an equivalent 1.87 L/100 km for city driving and 2.4 L/100 km for driving on highways. This rating is higher than the 2011 Nissan Leaf a similar vehicle produced by Japanese Auto giant Nissan. So if car rental companies in major cities, like Sydney have these cars in their fleet and customers want a car just for use in the city, then these would be ideal. They would be cheap to run and maintain and would be eco-friendly too.