Around the world Mitsubishi has announced initial prices for fleet purchasers of their subcompact i-MiEV electric car that range from about $53,000 in Japan to as high as $59,000 in Germany. Given the fact that Nissan will start selling the LEAF EV this fall for $32,780 in the US, it’s clear that Mitsubishi will have to find a way to bring their prices down before the smaller i-MiEV goes on sale to the mass market at the end of 2011.

Apparently Mitsubishi has been thinking about these issues as well: their director of electric-vehicle operations, Joe Delello, now says that Mitsubishi is aiming for a final price tag that could bring the i-MiEV below $30,000 when it hits showrooms.

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