Mitsubishi iMiEV: Name that EV for fun and prizes

I-MEEV? IMEE-E.V.? I-ME-EVE? It's Mitsubishi's coming-soon electric car, due to drop in Japan and Europe in 2010 and then -- if the planets align just so -- in the U.S. soon after. But there's a problem, namely the car's Scrabble box moniker. The company is desperate to think of some name -- any name -- that will play better in the English-speaking world.

You can see this car -- and the sleek fastback Sport concept -- at the L.A. Auto Show beginning Friday.

During testing of the vehicle at El Toro Marine Base on Monday, I promised David Patterson, one of Mitsubishi's senior managers, that I would try to think of a name. And so I propose a contest: Please submit your best idea for a name for this car here in the comments section. I will collect them and submit them to Mitsubishi. If your name is chosen, you will receive a morning of hot laps in the soul-scalding Mitsubishi Evo X with me, Dan Neil, on the Streets of Willow Springs racetrack. Dramamine is complimentary.

Actually, "Willow" is an awesome name for the car! Dibs!

Here's the latest on the project:

Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison will both get iMiEVs for testing this winter. The modeling, according to Patterson, will focus on two issues: daytime charging loads, e.g., what happens on a hot day in July when 300 of these things are plugged into the grid at the local train station? The other matter has to do with designing a high-voltage connector, which would significantly reduce recharging time.

Otherwise, the iMiEV project remains on course. The car is a retrofitted version of a Japanese domestic market "Kei" car (limited to 660 cc and 2500mm wheelbase) with a 330V lithium-ion battery and a 47kW AC synchronous motor (about 64 horsepower). To pass federal side-impact tests, the iMiEV will require a little more bracing and reinforcement, at a cost of some additional weight. The current prototypes are getting about 70 miles a charge, says Patterson, and one big question is whether that will be enough range to satisfy California consumers. It's a big state out there.

In my brief, 30-minute test drive, the iMiEV performed with unremarkable ease, accelerating with traffic and easily exceeding the posted speed limit of 65 mph. The car has three "speeds," with the drive being the full power mode; "E" (for economy of efficiency) tempering that power by 10%; and a high-regen mode (regenerative braking) that absorbs as much kinetic energy in braking as possible before resorting to the hydraulics. The car feels spacious and comfortable.

As for the super-cool, fastback Sport concept car with the in-wheel motors, the public enthusiasm for it has Mitsu designers scratching their heads, figuring out how to package all the iMiEV's practical goodness under that steeply sloping roof.

As for cost, oh you had to ask. The battery still is the sticking point. Unofficially the company is favoring some kind of leasing program for the electron holders to mitigate the high entry point. The fed's new $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle sure will help.

Like it? Love it? Good. Now think of a name. The world awaits your wit.

-- Dan Neil

Photo: The iMiEV. Credit: Dan Neil / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Oscar]

How about one of these:

-Colibri

-Invid

-Electric Boogaloo

[Spence]

How about the i-Move?

Upside=Easy to pronounce, simple, tech-y, modern, punny, implies an electric vehicle.

Downside=Apple might sue you.

[Mike]

Mitsubishi Pillbug.

Seriously: http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/pictures/Busters/pillbug.jpg

I want one.

[Toussaint Brown]

A good name i think could possibly be the Mitsubishi PreCursoR, because it represents the new generation of electric cars and is a cut above the rest of the other electric cars and other companies would follow, making similar products once they see this as a commercial success, so it could be a precursor to a electric car revolution

[xgb]

Firefly.

[ry]

How about EV-X? To me, it sounds like it goes well with EVO-X.

[don]

I like the name mitsubishi
- "Quantum"
-Spark
-Elektrik V

[Robert Goudreau]

Don't know if it posted, Let's call it the Mistubishi Surge.

[356man]

How about "Trash Compactor" since it looks like it went through one?

[Lala Luevano]

How about ImEve, the dawn of a new era. Men channel into your femine side.

Or Mi-Go pronounced me go. Like me go to store, market, shopping but not gas station yet.

[Jeff S]

Mitsubishi Bunny.

Perfect for hopping around town.

Has the cute appeal, looks kind of cute, and in some ways recalls the "bug". If only it was that successful.
Perfect for a tie-in with the energizer bunny!

[h]

The Mitsubishi Jolt.

Or the Mitsubishi Ohm, in honor of Georg Ohm, the physicist who pioneered electric curcuit analysis.

[Thomas Hollowaty]

PHOBIC G

The G of course would stand for GAS

[mike lewis]

how about the mitsu plug. can't believe no car maker has used this yet

[sbs reddy]

INDRA or VAJRA would sound exotic and they mean awesome power.

[AmbroseKalifornia]

Dan-

I like smolecule names, like the Mitsubishi Atom. But maybe that's too close to Atom bomb. Scratch that. How about the Proton, Neutron, or even better, ELECTRON!

Or quark. But Electron sounds like a supervillian and that seems to be pretty popular right now. It's also small, like the car, and conjurers up the image of electricity.

Well, whadda think? If it's good enough for second place, I'd be happy with lunch at you favorite pizza joint. Hell, I'd be happy to buy YOU lunch at MY favorite pizza place!

[Giovanni Conrado]

i MiEL (which means honey in Spanish). So I am suggesting to change the ending of EV for EL to make it more utterable. Plus the ending EL suggeste Electric and the V is not necessary since it is a vehicle and the V is not required.

[Alberto]

iCon

It sounds great and it links the word icon with the adjective connected which reminds the electric source of power.
Anyway, there are some great names upthere too. Good job guys!

[AmbroseKalifornia]

SO, did I win?

[Danny H]

The Mitsubishi Sunrise
The Mitsubishi Horizon
The Windy

[mitsubishi parts]

That is a good news. At least, not only Americans can enjoy the goodness of this EV, even Asians and Europeans! I also heard that their going to increase the production. Is it because of the demands?