December 20th 2021
The high-performance and motorsports division of Mitsubishi Motors, Ralliart, has not been in the news for over a decade. However, this year the division returned, offering only design changes. Well, it isn’t what the Ralliart fans were expecting, but they shouldn’t be disappointed because the Japanese automaker has teased a new Ralliart concept car.
It will be available for public viewing at next month’s Tokyo Auto Salon 2022 in Japan. Mitsubishi says it is built to show the “engineering and passion for Monozukuri challenges (craftsmanship).”
While we do not have any details on the Ralliart concept car, we can investigate the teaser image we received to get the design idea. The image displays the rear bumper with a stylish diffuser sporting the Ralliart emblem. The centre-installed vertical LED strips are possibly for fog light, while the slim red reflectors and carved bumper hint at the car’s sporty nature.
So, what does this tells us? Well, as we can’t find the exhaust tip, we expect this to be a zero-emission car. Obviously, if it was a traditional sports vehicle, it should have one or two exhaust tips to show the concept car’s aggressive nature. If we could recall the past news, we heard speculations of a Ralliart-spec Outlander PHEV. However, we are not sure if it is the exact vehicle.
Alongside the Ralliart concept at the Tokyo show, we expect to see the Kei EV concept. The company intends to produce it, keeping in view “safety, security, and comfort, as well as environmental friendliness.” The electric Kei car will be available in Japan from the first quarter of next year.
Mitsubishi will create the all-electric Kei car with the help of Nissan, with the pricing starting from around $18,000, including the EV subsidies one could expect from the Japanese government. The small EV was shown by Nissan as the IMk concept two years back, with a possible drive range of around 124 miles (200 kilometres).
Since it is a Kei car, it should be built according to the laws set by the authorities. It can’t be more than 3.4 metres (134 inches) long, 1.48 metres (58.2 inches) wide, and two metres (78.7 inches) tall. Regarding power, it should not create more than 63 hp (47 kW).
If you are not aware, you should know that this is not the automaker’s first electric Kei car. The first they developed was the i-MiEV, exclusively for the Japanese market.
Source and Images: Motor1