Mitsubishi i-MiEV headed to Russia

2010 Mitsubishi i-MiEV (JDM) – Click above for high-res image gallery

Mitsubishi's electric i-MiEV is either on sale, or will soon be available in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, the UK and 14 other European countries. In addition, the Japanese automaker expects to begin shipping the i-MiEV to Finland, Serbia, Turkey and Slovenia in "the near future." Now, it's time to add Russia to the ever-growing list of countries with i-MiEV access.

According to Andrei Pankov, the head of Mitsubishi's Russian distributor, Rolf Import, the i-MiEV will hit Russia by the end of April. Pankov told Automotive News that the launch of the i-MiEV:

Is a sort of an experiment ... to see how the car will survive and if the car draws any interest from consumers.

Pankov admits that Russia, due to the lack of a charging infrastructure and plug-in vehicle incentives, is not a key market for the i-MiEV. Pricing for the Russia-bound i-MiEV has not been determined, but Pankov made it clear that "the car won't be cheap."