Not dead yet: Mitsubishi’s compact electric SUV arrives in 2025
If you’ve followed cars as long as I have, you’d have been following cars since Mitsubishi was last a household name in the industry! Which is to say, in 1999, with the generation three Eclipse. But the company has hung on, sort of, particularly in its home market of Japan and developing regions of the world where it has sold super-compact and highly cost-conscious transportation.
After news Mitsubishi was investing in the Renault-led Ampere EV venture last month, it seems the first product of that cooperation will be a compact SUV meant to slot in where the ASX (based on the Renault Captur) currently does. This C-SUV will share the same underpinnings as the Megane E-Tech, which is currently one of two EVs on sale from the French automaker if you count the aging (but enduringly popular) Zoe. It’s unclear if the Mitsubishi C-SUV will be a badge-engineered Renault, or if it will be a Mitsubishi-led design that merely utilizes Renault’s electrified AmpR Medium platform and manufacturing. We do know the vehicle, whatever it is, will be built in France by Renault and should arrive in 2025, thanks to reporting from drive.
Mitsubishi is in a tough spot, and getting an entry-level EV on the market as soon as possible is probably the only thing that can save its passenger car business globally. A C-SUV makes a lot of sense as the place to start — these lifted hatchbacks aren’t generally popular in the US, but they sell like hotcakes in greater Europe, Asia, Australasia, and Latin America.
Mitsubishi was, weirdly, one of the first carmakers to seriously offer an electric car at relatively global scale. The ill-fated (but fairly long-lived [but terribly named]) i-MiEV and its suped-up golf cart styling burst sensibly rolled onto the scene in the late 2000s, beating the Nissan Leaf to market (and to… absolutely nothing else).
Today, Mitsubishi’s one electric success story comes in the form of a kei car — a super small people-mover called the eK X EV (someone please stop letting Mitsubishi name things) that is crazy popular in Japan and also sold by Nissan as the much nicer-looking and more pleasant-sounding Sakura. Unfortunately, kei cars don’t meet crash standards in most Western nations because they are purpose-built for the Japanese market. Specifically, kei cars must meet dimensional restrictions in order to qualify for special tax status and exemption from certain parking restrictions in the very space-conscious country. In other words: Mitsubishi’s one EV is a one-trick pony.
Electrek’s take
As a nominal member of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, the Japanese carmaker is going to have to lean on its partners for the foreseeable future for global manufacturing and R&D resources. Mitsubishi just doesn’t have what it takes to stand alone these days. Badge engineering is going to have a brand-new heyday in the era of electrification — mark my words. Mitsubishi as a brand may not have much cachet in the rich world these days, but as electrification proliferates beyond the world’s largest economies, its strong association with great value and Japanese reliability could become a valuable asset.
In Europe or North America, selling a Mitsubishi is more of a head-scratcher, especially if this is just going to be a Renault by any other name. But it’s possible whatever Renault ends up building for them could undercut the French make’s offerings with more basic features and capability, I suppose. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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The Canadian home improvement chain picked up a pair of Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks, and it’s putting them to work on last-mile delivery routes in the Greater Toronto Area.
This month, the Canadian home improvement retailer Home Hardware began operating two Volvo electric semi trucks out of its St. Jacobs, Ontario truck depot. The pair of trucks will fulfill last-mile deliveries throughout the area, and mark the company’s first step towards transitioning its entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles.
The Volvo VNR trucks have an operating range of 442 km (about 275 miles). Their delivery routes will take them from Home-brand stores within a 100-150 km (about 90 miles) radius of the St. Jacobs distribution centre.
“We are proud to introduce our new battery-electric trucks to our privately-owned fleet,” said Kevin Macnab, president and chief executive officer, Home Hardware Stores Ltd. “Recognized by the Private Motor Truck Council as Safest Large Fleet, as well as Trucking HR Canada as a Top Fleet Employer and a Fleet of Distinction, Home Hardware Stores, Ltd. is committed to forward-thinking logistics that evolve our supply chain to best support our dealers so they can serve their communities.”
Home Hardware debuted their new Volvo VNR Electric trucks at the company’s 60th anniversary celebration and annual franchise event, the Home Hardware Homecoming, held last week in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Electrek’s Take
Home Hardware is the latest in a growing list of companies – and they’re already adding to the tally of tens of millions of all-electric, zero emission miles driven by Volvo customers. By the time Volvo rolls out its next-generation VNL and FH electric semis next year, it will be the company’s third generation of Class 8 EVs, and it will be backed by more than 100,000,000 miles of real-world data collected by thousands of trucks across dozens of companies.
Is that an insurmountable head start for companies like Tesla to make up? It’s hard to know (and my brain is broken, anyway), but I invite you to check out this episode of Quick Charge recorded a few weeks ago (below) talking about Volvo Truck’s lead, and then share your take on the state of the electric semi truck market in the comments.
Quick Charge
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Trucks.
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The newest edition to the CAA-Quebec roadside fleet is a fully electric Lion5 flatbed – and the CAA says it’s the first 100% electrique tow truck in service in North America!
Based on the Lion5 medium-duty truck and upfit with a flat bed body developed by XpaK Industries, CAA-Quebec (think AAA, but in Quebec) is marking an important milestone in its 80-history with the deployment of the first electric tow truck in Canada.
“Roadside assistance has always been in CAA-Quebec’s DNA, and it goes without saying that we are taking the lead in electric towing. We have a responsibility to set an example and take a leadership role in protecting the environment,” said Marie-Soleil Tremblay, president and CEO.
As far as the truck itself goes, the Lion5 chassis is packed with 210 kWh of in-house, 800V battery packs. Those are good for a range of up to 310 km (a touch over 190 miles) courtesy of an energy-efficient, high-torque electric motor putting 315 hp that Lion Electric claims can eliminate between 75 and 100 metric tons of greenhouse gas per year compared to a comparable diesel truck.
What’s more, the Lion5-based tow truck promises to reduce CAA-Quebec’s energy (read: fuel) costs by about 80%, and regular maintenance costs by about 60% compared to gas or diesel vehicles in the same class.
“With this new 100% electric, made-in-Quebec tow truck, we are helping to redefine the future of the towing industry,” said Patrick Gervais, VP Trucks and Public Affairs at Lion. “We are proud to be part of a cleaner and more sustainable future with players like CAA-Quebec and XpaK.”
The Lion5 tow truck was delivered in July, and will spend a year being put through its paces in a multitude of towing situations and extreme weather conditions. CAA-Quebec’s roadside assistance service will share its experience with partners throughout Canada and the AAA in the US.
Electrek’s Take
“Electrek’s Take” is where we put our industry experience to use interpreting the news we report. Here, in an article about a “first ever” new commercial segment being entered by a highly visible EV, I probably should be talking about operating costs, “dollars and sense,” and the importance of stabilized costs for a fleet manager’s projections.
Instead, I’m just going to picture some bro-dude’s lifted 4×4 Ram pickup getting hauled out of a parking spot he’s ICE’d and giggle a bit. You try it, too, and let me know if it made you smile in the comments section.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Lion Electric, via TowCanada.
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Best known in the US as the OEM behind Nikola, Italian truck brand IVECO entered the 2.5 to 3.5 ton medium duty commercial van segment at this week’s IAA Transportation conference with this: the eMoovy electric chassis cab.
Co-developed with Hyundai and riding on a modified platform of the Korean brand’s Staria ST1 van, the IVECO eMoovy is entering a red-hot commercial EV space with a 215 hp electric motor and either a 63 kWh or 76 kWh battery good for up to 199 miles of range.
The IVECO version leverages the Hyundai’s excellent 800V architecture. That means the eMoovy supports ultra-fast 350 kW charging and V2x functionality, so it can be used to back up a job site, supply power to workers, or even power a home (presumably).
A long time coming
We’ve known than a commercialized IVECO version of the Hyundai van (which isn’t sold as an EV, that I’m aware of) has been in the works for some time. In fact, Peter Johnson wrote about the 2022 deal way back in February.
In that article, Peter wrote that, while Hyundai would develop and build the chassis, IVECO would customize the electric vans to suit broader commercial markets and distribute the vehicles throughout its network. If that sounds familiar, that’s because (on the surface, at least) the deal seems pretty similar to the one IVECO has with Nikola … which begs the question: will Nikola get an eMoovy variant to sell in the US?
The new electric van will directly target Ford E-Transit customers in Europe, so there’s no reason to believe it won’t be an attractive alternative for commercial fleets on this side of the pond, as well – especially with the “big rig” street cred that could come with the Nikola association.
Electrek’s Take
The commercial EV market is driven by dollars and cents. If EVs have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than their gas or diesel counterparts? They’ll continue to sell, and their market share will continue to grow. The only question Hyundai and IVECO need to answer is whether North American truck buyers be more likely to buy a Hyundai-branded van, or a Nikola one.
We asked a similar question to Kia’s James Bell on Quick Charge a few weeks back. Listen to his response to those questions, below, then share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Kia’s James Bell on Electrek Quick Charge
SOURCE | IMAGES: IVECO, CarScoops.
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