Zoomi Life

Officially opening on October 24, the Tokyo Motor Show is already getting in the news as a few participants make early announcements about what they’ll be showcasing at the East’s largest auto event. So far, interesting stuff from Suzuki, Mitsubishi, and Honda have been announced.

Read More: Tokyo Motor Show 2009: Early Announcements for Participants Are Enticing

Nissan revealed the LEAF electric car in August with announced plans to begin sales in 2010 with a production target date of late 2010/early 2011. This is further confirmed by the latest announcement that they’ll begin taking pre-orders in North America starting in the Spring of 2010. Their goal is a U.S. pre-sales target of 20,000 cars before launch.

Read More: The New Nissan LEAF and Planned U.S. Pre-Sales in 2010

For some reason I can’t really figure out, a lot of electric vehicle industry buzz surrounds the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. The little battery electric gets a lot of attention. I haven’t figured out why either, because these cars are ugly, only kind of impressive in performance, and don’t exactly have much about them that says “safe.”

Read More: Want an i-MiEV? Sucks to Be You Then. They’re Sold Out

The Frankfurt Motor Show is shaping up to be a big one with a lot of European and Asian models debuting, especially as car makers perfect their 2010 models for introduction. This year has several great options in EVs and hybrids.

Read More: New Cars Introduced at Frankfurt Motor Show

The Japanese government and the city of Tokyo, Japan are teaming with Better Place to test the viability of electric taxi cabs in the city. These taxis are slated to hit the roads as early as January and will utilize Better Place’s battery-swapping system to keep the taxis running 24/7.

Read More: Tokyo Testing Electric Taxis

To pretty much everyone’s surprise, the Tata Nano, the $1,000 Indian car that looks like an iMiev with four doors and even tinier tires, has passed European crash testing. Tata wants to get the little Nano onto European roads before 2012 and appears to be well on the way towards that goal.

Read More: Tata Nano Passes Crash Testing in Europe (video)

Mitsubishi launched the series production of the iMiEV on June 5 and along with it came pictures of the actual production model for the little car. The first batch of cars are to be leased to fleets in July (commercial and governmental) and consumer vehicles won’t be available until next year, and then only in Japan.

Read More: Mitsubishi Releases iMiEV Final Production Model & Photos

The little electric car that could is turning out to be the Mitsubishi i MiEV, which released a year ahead of schedule in Japan and is slated for release under the Citroen and Peugeot brands in Europe. Because of strong demand in Japan, the little car’s target production numbers are being increased as the first 2,000 cars sold out quickly.

Read More: Mitsubishi Increasing i MiEV Production to Meet High Demand

The prototype for the Mitsubishi Global i MiEV was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show. Very much like the original i MiEV, this version is the “global” model, meant for the world market. It features a wider stance, longer “bumper” overhangs for protection, and the steering wheel is on the correct, American side of the car.

Read More: Geneva Motor Show: Mitsubishi Global i MiEV Prototype Revealed

The new i MiEV electric car from Mitsubishi has received a fair amount of notice in the past few months as an urban commuter EV. This new version sees some improvement to the design and looks.

Read More: Geneva Motor Show 2009: Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport Air