it's suposedly is a hybrid of some sort

 

Not a hybrid, it's an all electric vehicle, just a test platform so far.

Edit: link: http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm...evolution-miev

Edit2: Each motor produces 50 kilowatts, which is 67.05 hp per wheel, or a total of 268.2 hp at the wheels. I'd be interested to see 0-60 times for this and kerb weights, since the motors directly drive the wheels but batteries can be extremely heavy.

 

electric and no turbo wtf

 

and more torque than you could possibly imagine. i think its around 250+ at EACH WHEEL!

but yeah, the batteries are heavy, and the wheels are a terrible place for them and/or the motors. i used to work for a company that was designing vehicles in exactly the same fashion (motor/battery combo in the wheels) - and i've yet to hear a good enough argument as to why they should be placed there, given the immense headache it is designing and beefing up everything else that is required.

 

I heard about this prototype a while ago. Mitsubishi might actually be up to something really interesting here if they properly pull this off. No gas engine (No transmission) means a whole lot less weight and the empty space left by the engine can mean very cool (innovative) exterior designs.

Anyway, here is a link that explains the MIEV technology a bit:
http://paultan.org/archives/2005/08/...volution-miev/

And here is the link stating that EVO MIEV does 0-60 below 8 seconds (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005...ishi_to_d.html)

And from what I've heard Mitsubishi is planning to apply MIEV technology around 2010 in Mitsubishi Colt-like car for market in Japan first.

 

interesting

 

Just in case all of you missed it, there's also a sticky in this forum about it. It's a long thread.

 

is it quick?

 

Putting your motors in the wheel is tough since you're adding a TON of unsprung weight, which is the worst kind of weight to have. Furthermore, as the poster above said, the unsprung weight just beats the crap out of the suspension components so you have to REALLY beef them up adding even more weight to the overall package.

On the other hand I can't wait for a few decades from now when we have electric-powered sports cars. The beauty of an electric motor is they have 100% torque available from 1(!)RPM, it's just inherent in their design. What this means for that EVO there is that it has a constant 1,528 ft/lbs (382/ wheel) of torque, which does wonders for making up for added wieght acceleration-wise, but notthing for braking/handling penalty added unsprung weight will bring. So as is par-for-the-course when engineering, you don't ever get something for nothing.

More info, including some tasty pics of the actual motors themselves, on the MIEV Lancer here:
http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/alterna...iev-122270.php

 

While each engine would obviously add more weight to each wheels suspension, you have to remember that Mitsubishi has been working on MIEV from early-mid 1990s and they are planning on releasing an MIEV based vehicle in 2009-2010.

Also MIEV would basically eliminate need for an exhaust system (less weight), would also eliminate a need for transmission (again, less weight), and would also eliminate large front placement of engines as we know of today which translates into very cool looking cars. If this technology was as bad as you sound it to be i don't think Mitsubishi would pursue it, I bet Mitsubishi knows something about it that we don't. I, for one, am actually looking forward this technology to become widely available.

 

So am I! I don't think this technology is "bad" at all. I think it will be fantastic. I was just trying to point out some of the disadvantages along with the advantages. As in all things: compromises will be made. I'm all for the tunability you would gain by having most of your sprung weight in battery packs you can place where ever you want, not to mention being able to have complete power control at each footprint. I think this will be an amazing new class of hybrid once the tech matures a bit.

 

I found an articale about this car in import tuner. It states it blasts from 0-60 in less than 8 seconds

 

wooooooo!

 

more info, the car only weighs 3500lbs, slightly more than what we have now.

http://automobile.auto123.com/en/inf...tid=47624&pg=1

 

yea hybrids are great... just not for anything meant to go fast