First electric vehicle in Malaysia - Mitsubishi i-MiEV on sale for RM136,118

Eagerly waiting for electric vehicles to be available in Malaysia?

Your wait is over. Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia has officially launched the Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle or simply called I-MiEV in the local market on March 21, 2013:

Name                 : Mitsubishi i-MiEV
Price                  : RM136,118 (without insurance), RM139,888 on the road
Weight              : 1,100kg
Battery              : Lithium-ion with 88cells
Charging time  : 8 hours via normal 240V household outlet
Cost to charge  : RM3.50 of electricity to charge 100%
Driving range   : 150km when fully charge
Top speed         : 130 km/h
Dimension        : 475 mm long and 1,475 mm wide
Features: 2-DIN touchscreen multimedia system with GPS, automatic climate control, auto headlights, electric power steering, leather steering wheel

(L-R) Yatabe, Ali, Oda and Larrieu, with two demonstration units of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV last year in Langkawi. The electric car is now available for booking. Photo: The Borneo Post

Mitsubishi i-MiEV can be charged from zero capacity to 100% in 8 hours via a normal 240-volt household outlet.

Although small, the interior actually looks neat and luxurious


Mitsubishi Motors aims to sell over 50 units of new electric vehicle by March 2014
NST, Mar 21,2013

KUALA LUMPUR: Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia (MMM) aims to sell more than 50 units of its newly-launched electric vehicle, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle)by March 2014.

The i-MiEV is the first commercialised electric vehicle in Malaysia. Previously, national automaker Proton Holdings Bhd and local Nissan distributor, Edaran Tan Chong Motor, had introduced electric cars for the purpose of pilot testing. MMM Chief Executive Officer Tetsuya Oda said the i-MiEV has been in the global market for over four years, since its launch in Japan in 2009.

He was speaking to reporters after launching the electric car, which comes with a price tag of RM136,118 (without insurance), here today. Oda said to assist potential i-MiEV buyers, MMM is planning to invest more than RM1 million to open four more EV centers nationwide by the end of April next year.

He said the centers would be equipped with a free charging facility for the electric vehicle users.

"We expect to have 60 showrooms in another year, from the current 54, with 31 being 3S Centres and 42 service outlets," he added.

Oda said MMM is currently talking to the principal in Japan to manufacture the lithium-ion battery pack, used by the electric car, here. He said the decision is up to the principal, and it depends more on the sales volume.

"The lithium-ion battery takes up a significant portion of the cost of production of the electric car. If we can manufacture it locally, the price of the car can be brought down significantly," added Oda.

The i-MiEV comes with a free five-year maintenance and five-year warranty (for 100,000 kilometre) packages. With a top speed of 130 kilometre/hour, the four-seater vehicle can run up to 150 kilometres, after charging for eight hours.


TheGreenMechanics' Two cents:

I think the pricing is ridiculous. At about RM140,000 (on the road), not many people can actually afford the i-MiEV, and this is bad news for Electric Vehicles in general. If you're concerned about CO2 emission, you can start with hybrid cars which give you more range.

If you must hug the tree, you may want to hold your horses for a while bit and wait for the next generation Nissan Leaf (all-electric vehicle), due to be launched soon. The Leaf costs £28k in the UK (and who knows how much would that translate in Malaysian market) but it is a much better looking car than the i-MiEV.

Do you notice that the i-MiEV has some resemblance with the world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano?

Low cost satellite services offered

In a nutshell, you launch a satellite at ¹/₄ of the current cost, or about US$10.5 million.

Malaysia was quoted as one of the countries interested in partnership deals that could see is host additional spaceports.

Malaysia's current MEASAT-3

Measat-3 is 4,765kg in mass while this low-cost launching services limit the weight of satellite to only 250kg. Measat-3 cost about US$230million, so a small discount offered by the Swiss launch services might make little difference.

But technology changes fast and the cost to build an equally capable but lighter, 250kg satellite could be so cheap that launching cost could represent big chunk in the cost pie. So it may highly be a viable option.


Swiss firm aims for low-cost satellite service
Mar 14, 2013
GENEVA: A new Swiss-based company said Thursday it would offer low-cost satellite launches which it claims could be a quarter of current market rates.

Swiss Space Systems-S3 said its goal was to offer launches for 10 million Swiss francs (8.1 million euros, $10.5 million) using unmanned suborbital spaceplanes that could carry satellites weighing up to 250 kilos (550 pounds).

"Our mission is to give access to space," the company said in a statement.

"Our aim is to democratise access to space by enabling emerging markets, countries, universities and research institutes to do what has not been possible for them up to know: deploy their own satellites," it added.

The company said it planned to open such a spaceport by 2015 at the Payerne airfield in western Switzerland, which has already been used by the Solar Pulse sun-powered aircraft of Swiss astronaut Bertrand Piccard.

Swiss Space Systems said that the plan's low-cost character was rooted in the reusable nature of the spaceplane and other launch facilities and that fuel-consumption would be far less than that of conventional systems.

Countries including Malaysia and Morocco have already expressed an interest in partnership deals that could see them host additional spaceports, it said.


Original article at The Economic Times

Samsung Galaxy S4 supports wireless charging

You are going to like this.

Although not really 'wireless' in the sense that it will not sap the juice while you're walking and holding it, Samsung's recently announced Galaxy S4 smartphone will support wireless charging - with the help of a pad.

Charging pad for the Galaxy S4 - wireless but not 'independent'

Wireless charging but Charging Pad not included in the package

There's some confusion over whether the Samsung Galaxy S4 supports wireless charging or not. The new flagship Android smartphone does support the feature but not out of the box.

It was rumoured that the Galaxy S4 would feature wireless charging but Samsung made no mention of it during the New York launch event last week. The rumour was not unfounded as the Galaxy S3 was supposed to support it but Samsung never actually released the accessories.

The catch is that the Galaxy S4 doesn't support wireless charging out of the box like such phones as the Google Nexus 4. However, a wireless charging cover and wireless charging pad will go on sale soon.

Qi has announced that its wireless charging standard will be supported by the Galaxy S4, according to a UK retailer, Clove. "In theory you should be able to use other Qi wireless charging accessories rather than Samsung's own ones, but we'll need to confirm that once we've received stock of the device." said the retailer.


Prices of the Galaxy S4, and the Charger Pad

There's no price or release date for the Samsung Galaxy S4 wireless charging cover or wireless charging pad.

The Galaxy S4 features a 5in Full HD screen, 8-core processor and a 13Mp camera. The flagship smartphone will be released on 26 April,2013 in the UK. Although pricing is still to be confirmed, one retailer has put a £529 (approx. RM2,495), matching the iPhone 5.

A retailer in Kota Kinabalu is confident that the S4 will be released in Malaysia late April.


References:-

• Clove: Samsung Galaxy S4 will support wireless charging
• Qi: Galaxy S4 has Qi wireless charging