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Has the electric-vehicle market really gotten to the point where folks can take out a lease for less than C-note per month? Yes, if you're interested in a Mitsubishi i of Smart ForTwo EV, Plug In Cars has found.

M Meets Edison

Mitsubishi has a long history of tidy little pickup trucks, and the Japanese automaker is apparently looking to extend that heritage in a bolder, bigger way with the Concept GR-HEV, a "sport utility hybrid truck."

In what is likely the largest EV recall ever, Mitsubishi is recalling about 14,700 electric vehicles worldwide because of a braking issue, Reuters reports.

O'Brien Mitsubishi, based in Normal, IL, is offering something way outside the norm: an absurdly low lease price – the cheapest we've ever seen – for on an electric vehicle.

Despite 2012 being the best year of auto sales this country has seen since 2007, not every vehicle got an equally large share of the sales pie. Some barely got a sliver, as evidenced by this year's list of the top 10 worst-selling vehicles of 2012.

Trying to do its part to enhance both the smart grid and public safety, Mitsubishi announced last week it will support a smart grid demo project at the University of Southern California (USC) and its Viterbi School of Engineering. Mitsubishi will provide USC with 12 all-electric i vehicles to be used on campus and around the LA basin.

More seats, fewer dollars.

A minor but important problem with the sensors in the self-diagnostic software used by the Safety Restraint System (SRS) system in some Mitsubishi i-MiEV models has led to a recall notice from Transport Canada and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

While it's no big surprise, there does seem to be wide disparity between what automakers publicly state about supporting hybrids and electric vehicles, and what they actually deliver. One example is Ford Chairman Bill Ford, who's been evangelizing electrification for Ford's future for a while (see video below and read this for just one example), but then you see the sales figures. Since being launched in January, Ford's first plug-in electric vehicle, the Focus Electric, has only sold 135 units

Despite some popular deals available for limited times and long-distance adventures, the Citroen C-Zero and Peugeot Ion were never big sellers. Now, Mitsubishi has decided that it's not worth it to build the electric vehicles for PSA any more.

A minor but important problem with the sensors in the self-diagnostic software used by the Safety Restraint System (SRS) system in some Mitsubishi i-MiEV models in Canada has led to a recall notice from Transport Canada.

U.S. sales of advanced-powertrain vehicles in July had their slowest year-over-year growth rate in three months, and below-peak gas prices may be putting domestic consumers in a little less of a frenzy when it comes to lowering their refueling bills. Additionally, electric-vehicle sales stalled, another small indication that the American public remains somewhat hesitant to plug in full time.

It ain't Yosemite or shark attacks, but we'll take it.

It's the little EV that could.

Alt-fuel vehicle sales across all automakers in June more than doubled from a year earlier.

Hmmm, 12 fewer miles of range or $40 more bucks a month?

Price an electric vehicle right, and they'll beat a path to your door.

Say what you will about the EPA, but when it comes to measuring single-charge ranges of the Mitsubishi i and Nissan Leaf battery-electric vehicles, they seemed to get it right.