| First Drive | Cirencester, England | Mitsubishi i-EV |

Until recently, we've regarded electric cars as something of an aside, as environmental conscience-salving oddities for those wanting to shout the loudest about their green credentials. In most cases that's meant severe compromises. But Mitsubishi will soon be launching a proper, battery powered four-seater in the UK. We've driven it, and it's not just a good electric car, but a great small car in its own right.

In the Metal

If you think you've seen the Mitsubishi i-EV before then you'd be right. The i-EV looks exactly the same as the i car upon which it's based. Okay, not exactly; the stickered up examples we tested aren't representative of the single colour un-liveried version you'll be able to buy next year, but it's the same car under the plug and cable decals. So it's a space-efficient wheel in each corner shape that's designed to fit within Japan's K-car dimension limitations. That makes for a tall but wide shape, which will seat four adults in surprising comfort.

The only visual difference between the i-EV you'll be able to buy in the showroom over its three-cylinder petrol relative are the absence of an exhaust pipe, and two filler caps - one on each side for either quick or trickle charging. Inside, it's all pretty conventional too. Look a bit closer at the automatic transmission though and there are 'Eco' and 'B' settings and the instruments contain a power usage dial in place of a conventional rev-counter.

What you get for your Money

Mitsubishi has created a city car that's fully crash tested and can seat four in comfort. There's some luggage room too; indeed Mitsubishi's packaging of the i-EV is very clever. The batteries sit under the floor and the inverter, motor and other electrical gubbins are positioned around the back axle. It is a hugely space efficient bit of packaging that demonstrates both the cleverness of the standard i car's layout and how far ahead of the competition Mitsubishi is with its electric car.

The money bit remains something of a sticking point though. It might only cost 45 pence to charge the i-EV's battery overnight but it is prohibitively expensive to buy for all but the wealthiest environmentally aware drivers. Like all new technology the i-EV will become cheaper as numbers produced increase, but the first 200 or so that are coming to the UK will be out of reach for most. Mitsubishi hasn't put a sticker price on it yet and leasing is currently the likeliest option to ownership. Individuals - or more likely companies - would pay around £750 a month for the privilege of being an early adopter of Mitsubishi's green machine.

Driving it

Mitsubishi specifically points out that the i-EV is meant to be a town car. That explains its paltry sounding 80-100 mile range on a single charge. However, most commutes are well under that and it's possible to plug it into a domestic outlet for a top-up while you're at work should you need to. What is essential for electric cars to really succeed is that they have to drive much like the conventional cars we're all used to. And that's exactly what the i-EV does. Get in, touch an immobiliser key and turn the 'ignition'. Nothing much happens except the dash lighting up. Pop it into drive and pull away - with the faint whirring of the electric motor as accompaniment.

Unlike some electric rivals, Mitsubishi has managed to limit the torque delivery from take off to aid smoothness. So there's no lightning, traction-breaking take-off, and being rear-wheel drive the steering is uncorrupted by what torque is being transferred to the road. It's brisk, the i-EV's 0-62mph time of 13 seconds actually faster than its petrol relative, so it is more than quick enough to cope with the cut and thrust of city traffic while its dimensions allow you to exploit the smallest of gaps with ease.

There's nothing unusual in the way it drives. Pop it in drive - or if you're crawling in slow traffic into Eco where it reduces the power from 47kW to 18kW to increase battery life - and drive it like you would any city car. If it's hilly then the B mode increases the regenerative effect from coasting, allowing more free energy to be scavenged on the move. It rides well, steers sharply and has nicely weighted steering. Out of town it'll reach 87mph if you could do so legally, so the i-EV does not feel out of its depth on the open road despite its city focus. Drive it on fast roads and you'll get through the battery pretty quickly though.

Worth Noting

Charging that battery takes around 6-7 hours via a regular three-pin outlet in the UK. So plug it in while you're at work, or overnight at home. A full charge should cost around 45 pence. Quick, 20-minute, 80% charges are possible via a vending machine-sized charging station, but they won't be too handy for UK consumers as they're all currently based in Japan. The maximum range is 80-100 miles, but in reality it's around half that if, like on our drive, it's cold and the heater, lights and everything else is on. That's still enough to cope with the average daily commute.

Summary

A proper production electric offering from an established, recognised car maker has been a long time coming. But that's exactly what Mitsubishi will be offering from next year. There remain some issues - purchase costs primarily - but as production numbers increase and the technology is cheaper to build then prices will inevitably fall. Range will also grow as battery technology improves, as will the speed of charging. Unlike the numerous electric cars turning up at motor shows the i-EV has been properly crash tested and has a network of existing dealers that will be able to service it. A bold step in the right direction, the i-EV underlines that the dawn of the electric car really is here. And it'll be in Mitsubishi showrooms next year.