Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Wednesday it plans to launch an electric minivehicle by 2010, choosing to focus resources on development of electric vehicle technology to differentiate itself from automakers already producing hybrid-engine cars.
"The reason we chose to go with EV (technology) is that . . . we can sell our originality to consumers" while helping at the same time to resolve environmental problems, MMC senior executive officer Tetsuro Aikawa told a news conference at the automaker's head office in Tokyo.
MMC is developing electric vehicles that have "in-wheel motors," which are encased in their rear wheels, and lithium-ion batteries under their back seats.