Clean Green Cars: LA 2009: Mitsubishi unveils Geek Squad i-MiEV, brings PX-MiEV to U.S.

LA 2009: Mitsubishi unveils Geek Squad i-MiEV, brings PX-MiEV to U.S.

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Mitsubishi, LA Auto Show, Green Daily

Mitsubishi’s Geek Squad i-MiEV (with PX-MiEV in foreground) - click above for high-res image gallery

While Mitsubishi didn’t unveil any new vehicles at the LA Auto Show today, company president Osamu Masuko did announce the latest step in MMC’s plan to bring plug-in vehicles to North America. The vehicle - well, one of them - is an all-electric i-MiEV plastered with Best Buy’s Geek Squad logo. The electronics giant will start using these BEVs in January (after they’re shown off at CES) at some Geek Squad locations in California. Details have not yet been totally worked out, but the Geek EVs will start with a fleet of four vehicles and will then expand and rotate to other stores over the course of three years. Most likely, the i-MiEVs will be doled out in pairs and the likely early cities where these vehicles will make house calls include Chicago, New York, Portland, and San Francisco.

Best Buy plans to use the i-MiEVs just like any other fleet car, with the exception that they are right-hand drive. Best Buy’s Senior Vice President of emerging business, Rick Rommel, told AutoblogGreen the idea is to learn, “How these will fit into a Geek’s daily life.” The plug-in vehicle tests with the Geek Squad is pretty much unrelated to the West Coast stores that are selling electric bikes. Rommel said that the key thing is that Best Buy likes to conduct new experiments, and these EVs fit into that general concept.

Also on the stand was the PX-MiEV, Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid that was unveiled in Tokyo. Like what you see? A version of this car should be available in the U.S. in 2013.

Gallery: LA 2009: Mitsubishi i-MiEV for Geek Squad