Renewable Gossip

Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV

There was a long parade of plug-in cars at last month’s Frankfurt Auto Show. This month, it’s Japan’s turn to unveil a new crop of plug-in hybrids at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public on Oct. 24. Mitsubishi and Suzuki are the first two companies to announce plans to unveil plug-in hybrids.

The Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV plug-in crossover uses two electric motors to power front and rear wheels—and a 1.6-liter gasoline engine, which can power the front wheels or work as a generator. The company is claiming fuel economy around 120 miles per gallon—using Japan’s mixed-road test—but MPG numbers are becoming irrelevant in a world when cars increasingly run on electrons. The unveiling of the PX-MiEV follows the production launch in Japan of the company’s i-MiEV all-electric city car.

Flexibility is the theme for the PX-MiEV’s technology. Mitsubishi developed a new plug-in hybrid system, which analyzes power requirements and battery state of charge to choose one of three modes. At low and mid-range speeds, an EV mode employs the lithium ion battery pack to power the front motor for front-wheel drive. When the battery is depleted to a certain level, the system employs a series hybrid mode, using the gasoline engine to send power directly to both front and rear motors (although apparently not to recharge the batteries.) And at higher vehicle speeds, the gas engine also helps drive the wheels.

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