I would highly recomend that Mitsubishi increase the driving range of any EV introduced into the US market, Or at least offer it as an option. For my personal needs I need 120 mile driving range. More customers will find the car attractive to buy if the driving range is increased. It would also be a big plus if they can keep the price under $20,000. This would make the car affordable for over 90% of the population. One reason this car is more affordable than a gas powered car is, because of the reduce cost of energy to run the car.
SUV = $0.17 a mile.
HYBRID = $0.06 a mile.
ELECTRIC = $0.02 a mile.

I need min. 300 miles... :(

do you drive 60 and 150 miles to work, and have no place to recharge? Could this be true?

I need a 120 mile driving range.
About once every thirty days I need to make 80 mile round trip to the airport. Since i live in a cold climate I will need to run the heater. This will also reduce driving range. So extra 40 miles driving range is nessary. 120 mile driving range will meet 99% of my driving needs. A vehicle that has four door hatch back about the size of a Honda Civic wourld be perfect. A Fould down rear seat to expand cargo hauling ability.

Good comment Jeff, well thought out.
I can't quite understand why there is such a division between design philosophies of "EV" and "Hybrid" vehicle makers. The EV guys want electric only, Hybrid folk want the electrics just for regenerative braking + acceleration, not for cruise.
Surely the best solution would be a combination of both:- pure EV for short trips, and a small auxiliary gas engine+generator (removable??) to allow better range for longer trips. This unit would be designed to run continuously at best-efficiency point, completely independent of car speed, and would only be lit up if:- A) a long trip is envisaged, or B) the battery gets dangerously low.
The i-Miev attains top speed of 81mph on a 47kW motor, so at 55mph the power requirement should be around 22kW. Therefore a 10kW generator running full time should at least double the range before battery goes flat, assuming non-stop driving - and more if there are stops or slow traffic.
Oh yes, another thing. The carbon savings of an EV depend on how the electricity is produced - in Australia it is about 85% from coal, so an EV ends up being really a coal-powered vehicle - with worse total emissions than from gasoline !!!

grog!

There are hidden advantages to this car also. Maintenance Costs are much less because there so few moving parts that need to be replaced, as in a gasoline car. I think that time will tell that, for most people having at least one of these cars for everyday use is the most practical solution. I would predict exponential growth in EVs on the road as car companies realize that consumers are interested in these advantages. My guess would be that, in around 10-15 years from now, most households will end up using an EV 90% of the time, and keep a gas vehicle around for long trips and stuff like that.

I would highly recommend to anyone building an EV to get one on the market and stop talking about it.

People will ask and ask for the world but damn, stop redesigning something that isn't even available yet. There is a huge market for people needed less than 80 miles range. Just get it on the market and for sale, then work on extended range versions for the snobs who want the world... an EV that pleases everyone will cost twice as much as an EV for the smart, conservation minded, environmently friendly end user.

Smart cars are in... I cannot wait for the day that last SUV dies and is buried.

Even if the electricity for an EV was produced by a coal-fired plant, it's carbon footprint would still be by multiples better than if it had an internal combustion engine (OK, can't find the source now, but it is significant). The reason is that large power plants work much more efficient than car engines and (hopefully) capture more pollutants.

Last but not least, once you got over the initial expense of buying an EV there is no reason why you could not, should not put some PV panels onto your roof. Free fuel for life :-)

The best way to reduce the carbon footprint of EVs is to charge them with electricity generated from solar energy. People with long commutes can stick with hybrids for now but the rest of us that are well within an EV's range can just install solar panels on our roof at home and plug in after we get home from work. Once battery technology improves, we should be able to pull into a charging station (which will also be solar powered, of course) and have a cup of joe while we get a quick charge to get us home. Or perhaps for longer trips, a technician will just switch out our spent battery for a pre-charged one and away we go!