Mitsubishi i-MiEV: Lease & finance costs announced

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV - Will cost you £399 a month

Mitsubishi has released costs for leasing, buying and contract hire on the electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which becomes eligible for the £5k electric car subsidy this week.

We had to run some sort of story on electric cars this week as the UK government’s misguided £5k subsidy to makers of electric cars kicks in as the New Year arrives. Mind you, as we reported last month, there is only one electric car you can actually go out and buy – the Mitsubishi i-MiEV.

As far as we can see there are only two types of buyers for whom an electric car – any electric car – makes sense. The first is the city dweller who needs something small and cheap to run – and something like the Mitsubishi i-MiEV fits the bill.

It’s horribly expensive – even after the £5k kickback from the taxpayer – but you could possibly break even thanks to savings on parking, fuel and congestion charges – if you live long enough (and so does the car). And you do shift emissions away from where you live to where the electricity is generated (which as we do import some electricity from France via a bit of flex under the channel may be acceptable…).

But we see the big market as being business buyers. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a one-man band or a multi-national conglomerate, the same rules apply. You can write-off the entire purchase cost of the electric car in year one and there is no BIK for employees. Which means companies could reward members of staff with electric cars for the employee and his family to run around in. Why not buy them a couple? Low cost for the company and a tax-free perk for the employee.

The complete skewing of the market in this way is a nonsense, compounded by the silly £5k subsidy. But what the hell, if the government’s going to almost pay us to get in to electric cars it will happen – in a small way. Or you could – as we worked out when Peugeot divvied up costs for the iOn – lease something small and city-friendly like the Aygo/107/C1 and spend a fortnight each year in the Seychelles on the money you saved by NOT having an electric car.

Just a thought.

How much to buy, lease or finance an i-MiEV? Check the table below.

Vehicle Price (After P-ICG Grant)	OTR (After P-ICG Grant) & First Registration Fee	Rental Period	Profile	Monthly Rental*
£23,990	£24,045	48 Months	3-0-47	£399
*T&C’s apply

From January 2011, Finance Mitsubishi are offering a Balloon Personal Loan, like the example below for i-MiEV customers:

Vehicle Price (After P-ICG Grant)	OTR (After P-ICG Grant) & First Registration Fee	Deposit	47 Monthly Payments	Final Payment	Total Amount Payable*
£23,990	£24,045	£4,635.00	£399	£6,459	£29,847
*T&C’s apply					APR 11.7%

Personal Loans are also available to customers from Finance Mitsubishi:

Vehicle Price (After P-ICG Grant)	OTR (After P-ICG Grant) & First Registration Fee	Deposit	59 Monthly Payments	Final Payment	Total Amount Payable*
£23,990	£24,045	£5,596	£399	£399	£29,536