The is a kei car from automaker

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. twenty eight months after its debut at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. It is the first four-door automobile since the 1960s to employ a " rear midship" setup with the engine behind the passengers, in an attempt to improve safety and interior space without enlarging the overall exterior. The innovative layout and styling of the i proved an immediate critical and commercial success, exceeding Mitsubishi's initial sales targets by 20 percent and winning thirteen awards in its first year. Although designed with the Japanese ''keijidōsha'' light automobile class in mind, the attention it generated led to its subsequent introduction in

right hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...

markets in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. It is also used as a basis of the 2009

i-MiEV The Mitsubishi i-MiEV (MiEV is an acronym for ''Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle'') is a five-door hatchback electric car produced in the 2010s by Mitsubishi Motors, and is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. Rebadged variants o ...

battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, ...

Concepts: i, Se-Ro

Two

prototypes A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

were exhibited during the car's development. The first was the "i" Concept, which debuted at the 60th

Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility shows. It cons ...

in 2003, and previewed the car's striking exterior. Motoring journalists were quick to seize on the distinctive

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

, calling it "a very good egg", and a "crystal ball" with which to see the future of Mitsubishi. One reviewer even speculated it to be an allusion by the vehicle's French-born designer

Olivier Boulay Olivier Boulay (born August 9, 1957, in France) is an automobile designer. Since 2009, he has been the Vice President of Daimler's Advanced Design Centre in Beijing, China.

to the

Renault 4CV The Renault 4CV (french: quatre chevaux, as if spelled ''quat'chevaux'') is a rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive, 4-door economy supermini manufactured and marketed by the French manufacturer Renault from August 1947 through July 1961. It was the fi ...

, France's popular post-war "people's car" with which the i shared its four-seat, rear-engined layout. Its styling was formally lauded when the i won the Grand Prize at the 50th anniversary Good Design Awards from the Japanese

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry The or METI, is a ministry of the Government of Japan. It was created by the 2001 Central Government Reform when the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) merged with agencies from other ministries related to economic activities ...

in October 2006, the first ''kei'' car to win the award. Explaining the choice of name, the company claimed that "i" could represent the owner (''I'', the nominative personal pronoun) as an encouragement to personal expression, or ''innovation'', ''intelligence'' and ''imagination'', keywords in the car's development. It was also a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

on the Japanese word for

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

, 愛 (). The "i" Concept was powered by a 999 cc powerplant with the company's

Mitsubishi Smart Idling The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

(MSI) system, which turns off the engine automatically when the vehicle is stationary, and can restart it within 0.2 seconds. So equipped, Mitsubishi claimed the car was capable of fuel consumption of no more than . The second prototype, called the Se-Ro and exhibited at the 2003

Tokyo Motor Show The is a biennial auto show held in October–November at the Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), it is a recognized international show ...

, previewed the production model's more conventional mechanical underpinnings, despite having a more radical appearance which bore little resemblance to the final design. Instead, its polished

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

body was styled to resemble a

zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

, which Se-Ro design head Shuji Yamada described as a realization of his fantasies of the future from childhood. The

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...

theme continued with the name; Se-Ro, short for "secret room", was a veiled reference to the

Mitsubishi Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 19 ...

fighter aircraft of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Technical details

Body and dimensions

A lightweight steel (not aluminium) structure and a rear-engined layout allowed Mitsubishi to incorporate a larger front

crumple zone Crumple zones, crush zones, or crash zones are a structural safety feature used in vehicles, mainly in automobiles, to increase the time over which a change in velocity (and consequently momentum) occurs from the impact during a collision by a ...

, in order to meet current safety legislation requirements without compromising interior space. With no

powertrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

in front of the driver, the designers were able to shorten the front overhang and lengthen the

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

to , giving greater legroom for passengers than many comparable ''kei'' cars whose wheelbase is typically less. The downside of this design was a reduction in cargo-carrying capacity, which was necessarily compromised by the engine's location in the rear. Mitsubishi i 2

Drivetrain

The i has a "rear-midship" engine mounted just ahead of the rear axle, a highly unusual configuration in a small car where

front-engine design In automotive design, a front-engine, front-wheel-drive (FWD) layout, or FF layout, places both the internal combustion engine and driven roadwheels at the front of the vehicle. Usage implications Historically, this designation was used reg ...

has dominated since the 1970s. The '' 3B20'' three-cylinder powerplant has an

cylinder block, a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 659 cubic centimetres, and incorporates

double overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

s with ''

MIVEC MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control system) is the brand name of a variable valve timing (VVT) engine technology developed by Mitsubishi Motors. MIVEC, as with other similar systems, varies the timing of the intake and ex ...

variable valve timing In internal combustion engines, variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a valve lift event, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combination with var ...

in the

cylinder head In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head (often abbreviated to simply "head") sits above the cylinders and forms the roof of the combustion chamber. In sidevalve engines, the head is a simple sheet of metal; whereas in more modern ...

. Initially only an

intercooled An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines. Internal combustion engines Most ...

and turbocharged engine was offered, until a naturally aspirated version was introduced for 2007. A four-speed

automatic gearbox An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...

transmits power to the

rear Rear may refer to: Animals *Rear (horse), when a horse lifts its front legs off the ground *In stockbreeding, to breed and raise Humans *Parenting (child rearing), the process of promoting and supporting a child from infancy to adulthood *Gende ...

or all four wheels, depending on specification. Mitsubishi i 2

Suspension, brakes and tires

MacPherson strut The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles, and is named for American automotive engineer Ear ...

s are used in the front

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspende ...

, and an unusual three-link

De Dion tube De Dion rear axle A de Dion tube is a form of non-independent automobile suspension. It is a considerable improvement over the swing axle, Hotchkiss drive, or live axle. Because it plays no part in transmitting power to the drive wheels, it is ...

Watt's linkage In kinematics, Watt's linkage (also known as the parallel linkage) is a type of mechanical linkage invented by James Watt in which the central moving point of the linkage is constrained to travel on a nearly straight line. It was described i ...

is used in the rear. Front discs with

anti-lock braking An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a safety anti-skid braking system used on aircraft and on land vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing the wheels from locking up during braking, thereby maintainin ...

(ABS) and electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) are standard across the range. In common with many other mid- or rear-engined vehicles its fifteen-inch wheels have uneven-sized tires, 145/65 on the fronts and wider 175/55 on the rears, in an effort to minimise the chances of

oversteer Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering. Oversteer is what occurs when a car turns (steers) by more than the amount commanded by the driver. Conversely, understeer is what occ ...

caused by the rear-biased weight distribution.

Specifications

Three individual models, or grades, were available on the car's release in 2006; ''S'', ''M'', and ''G'', in ascending order of price. They all shared the same five-door hatchback body style and turbocharged

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

, but offered differing levels of options and standard equipment. In 2007 the base ''S'' model was given the new naturally aspirated powerplant, and was positioned below the two new grades, ''L'' and ''LX'', whose engine it shared.

Domestic and international markets

Mass production began at the company's Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, Okayama, in December 2005, before it was released for sale on January 24, 2006. Priced from ¥1,281,000 to ¥1,617,000, Mitsubishi initially aimed for 5,000 cars per month within the domestic market, and managed to exceed its target in its first month by over 1,000. By the end of 2006, approximately 37,000 had been sold."Mitsubishi “i” to go on sale in the UK"
, Automotoportal, February 16, 2007 The company has already exported the i to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, where like Japan they drive on the left, and introduced it to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on July 1, 2007, with a price of GBP£9,000 and a target of 300 sales per year.

Annual production and sales

''(source: Facts & Figures 201

Mitsubishi Motors website)''

Special editions

From July 25 to 31, 2006 the company displayed a unique ''Mitsubishi i Hello Kitty edition'' at the

Mitsukoshi is an international department store chain with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, which also owns the Isetan department store chain. History It was founded in 1673 with the (shop name) , sell ...

department store in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

's Nihonbashi district. Based on the

two-wheel drive Two-wheel-drive (2WD) denotes vehicles with a drivetrain that allows two wheels to be driven, and receive power and torque from the engine, simultaneously. Four-wheeled vehicles For four-wheeled vehicles (and by extension, vehicles with six, e ...

''G'' model, it had a pink

paint scheme A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

with co-ordinated interior, "Princess Kitty" decals on the doors and windows, a ribbon decal on the roof, and themed headrests with small, feline ears. The car, which was described as "the most quintessentially Japanese car...ever" for fusing two of the country's

cultural icon A cultural icon is a person or an artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen as an authentic ...

s—

Hello Kitty , also known by her full name , is a fictional Character (arts), character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphi ...

and ''keijidōsha''"The ultimate kei? Mitsubishi i Hello Kitty 'Princess Kitty' edition"
Alex Nunez, Autoblog.com, July 7, 2006—was eventually sold in a charity auction on behalf of

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

. Other limited production models include the ''i Play edition'', a run of 3,000 cars only available in white or black, and featuring a

dashboard For business applications, see Dashboard (business). A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the drive ...

-mounted slot for an

iPod nano The iPod Nano (stylised and marketed as iPod nano) is a discontinued portable media player designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. The first generation model was introduced on September 7, 2005, as a replacement for the iPod Mini, usin ...

, Also 100 of the ''i Kurashiki edition'' with

faux Faux may refer to: People *Faux (surname) Places Places in Belgium * Faux, a village in the Belgian commune of Court-Saint-Étienne Places in France * Faux, Ardennes, French commune of the Ardennes department * Faux, Dordogne, French commune of t ...

denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. While a denim predecessor known as dungaree has been p ...

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English w ...

, to be sold at a single Mitsubishi dealership in Kurashiki, Okayama, the prefecture where the bulk of Japan's domestic

blue jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and pate ...

manufacturers are located."Mitsubishi releases jeans-themed "i" Kurashiki Edition"
Alex Nunez, Autoblog.com, December 14, 2006 ''1st Anniversary'' special editions based on the ''L'' and ''M'' grades were also introduced in early 2007 to commemorate the car's first year on sale.

Electric car version

Mitsubishi has given the i a prominent role in the company's

alternative propulsion An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum fuels (petrol or petrodiesel). The term also refers to any technology (e.g. electric car, hybrid electric vehicles, solar-powered vehi ...

research projects, developing a version using their ''

MiEV MIEV (Mitsubishi In-wheel motor Electric Vehicle) or MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) Tetsuro Aikawa">"Interview With Managing Director in Charge of Product Development and Environment Affairs Group Headquarters, Tetsuro Aikawa", Mits ...

(Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle)'' technology in 2006 and exhibited at the 22nd International Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exposition in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

. MMC provided three power companies with vehicles in 2006 and 2007 in order to evaluate how a " fast-charge" infrastructure might be developed for electric vehicles.

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach ...

testing by five power companies was conducted later in 2007, with a view to future public sales between 2008 and 2010."Mitsubishi i MiEV Single Motor EV"
James Fraser, The Energy Blog, October 12, 2006"Mitsubishi i: In Detail"
F. de Leeuw van Weenen, WorldCarFans.com, August 18, 2006 The

Mitsubishi i-MiEV The Mitsubishi i-MiEV (MiEV is an acronym for ''Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle'') is a five-door hatchback electric car produced in the 2010s by Mitsubishi Motors, and is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. Rebadged variants of ...

electric car was launched in Japan for fleet customers in July 2009 and for the general public in April 2010. Sales to the public in

began in May 2010, and a trial began in Australia in September 2010. Sales in several European countries began in late 2010 and between December 2011 and March 2012 for the United States west and east coasts, respectively.

Awards

The i won the 2007

Car of the Year Car of the Year (COTY) is a common abbreviation for numerous automotive awards. The "Car of the Year" phrase is considered to have been introduced by ''Motor Trend'' magazine in 1949 when the new publication named Cadillac as Motor Trend Car of the ...

award from the Japanese Automotive Researchers and Journalists Conference (RJC), and two other "Car of the Year" awards, from the Carview Corporation website and the Consumer's Choice. It also won the "Most Advanced Technology" Special Achievement Award at the 2006–07

Japan Car of the Year The annual Car of the Year Japan Award (日本カー・オブ・ザ・イヤー, nihon kā obu za iyā), also known as Japan Car of the Year (or JCOTY), is an annual Car of the Year award given for newly released or redesigned vehicles released in ...

awards, where it was nominated unsuccessfully in the overall Car of the Year category, and ranked first in the Japan Mini-Car APEAL Study published by J.D. Power Asia Pacific in October 2006, with a higher score than any previous winner. Aside from the 2006 Good Design Grand Prix, its style won Design Awards from the

Japan Automotive Hall of Fame The Japan Automotive Hall of Fame (or JAHFA) is based at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 2000 and, since 2001, five or six people have been inducted in an annual award ceremony held at the museum. ...

(JAHFA), and the magazines ''Popeye'' and ''Car Styling''.

References

External links

*Official sites: :: • • • * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsubishi I Cars introduced in 2006 Hatchbacks Kei cars I All-wheel-drive vehicles Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles eo:Mitsubishi i