Mitsubishi execs visit potential EV island 

In a recent visit to Kangaroo Island, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) and Mitsubishi Motors Australia showed their support of Kangaroo Island Council’s quest to raise awareness about the benefits of electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) usage to achieve zero emissions by 2050.

By 2019/20 Mitsubishi Motors is expecting to release an affordable, all-electric mini SUV with zero emissions, with an expected range of in excess of 400km on a single charge.

According to Kangaroo Island Council chief executive Andrew Boardman, this would be ideally suited to the island given its size, spread of attractions and mix of road surfaces.

“We certainly need to plan for the increase in visitor numbers following the development of the airport. An EV and PHEV fleet of small SUVs will help minimise visitor impact on
our road network and on our environment through decreased emissions and noise. Being all-wheel drive SUVs, they will also provide self-drive tourists with a safer and more robust
way of managing all types of road surface.”

MMC chairman of the board and president chief executive Osamu Masuko said MMC has committed to provide some infrastructure support for the island. “Our visit was to get a
first-hand experience of Kangaroo Island, to understand how the initiative will roll-out on the ground and to meet our partners. We know you are the fourth most popular tourist
destination in Australia with over 200 thousand local and international visitors per year, which will grow with the airport.” Earlier in the week Masuko met with
premier Jay Weatherill and reiterated MMC’s support for the state government’s initiatives to move toward a low carbon economy.

Kangaroo Island council mayor Peter Clements said that much of the value and attraction of “brand K” is wrapped up in its “green” status. “Think how much more we reinforce
that message if we have a core fleet of EV and PHEV hire cars powered by renewable energy. We already have the largest regional EV charging network in Australia,
all of it powered by renewable energy.”

The council, which currently has two plug-in hybrid electric Mitsubishi Outlanders operating in its fleet, is looking to work with local businesses which could be interested in becoming involved in the EV network – whether as potential PHEV/EV car users or EV-friendly businesses.