The Mia U electric van

We take a look at the forthcoming Mia Electric van, which is eligible for the plug-in grant.

Following yesterday’s announcement of the initial list of electric vans eligible for the government’s plug-in grant scheme, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at one of the lesser-known names on the list, Mia Electric.

Mia Electric is a French company with three models, the Mia, Mia L and Mia U. The Mia and Mia L are passenger models – the L is a longer wheelbase variant.

The Mia U is the company’s electric van offering and is based on the Mia L.

Although it is just 3.19m long, it has a load capacity of 1,500 litres and is a single seater – the driver’s seat is centrally located in the cab.

I don’t know about you, but I think it looks rather good, in a Smart Car kind of way.

How Much Does It Cost?

The plug-in grant scheme gives buyers of qualifying electric vehicles a discount of 20% or £8,000 – whichever is less. Mia Electric’s van and car models do not go on sale in the UK until May but the company says that any motorist wishing to buy a mia electric vehicle when they go on sale in the UK market later this year will be entitled to a discount of around £5000.

This additional Government support means the mia’s standard short wheelbase model (mia-U) will retail at approximately £21,000 and the two extended models, the mia L and the mia box van, will both retail at approximately £22,000.

Mia says that the Mia U is currently on trial with a “major UK company” that is considering a large-scale switch to electric vans and Mia Electric’s Head of UK Sales, Richard Deslandes, said:

“The box van is a key component of the product range mia electric plans to bring to the UK market later this year. We hope the Government’s decision to extend the grant to cover vans will incentivise business owners to use electric vehicles and so reduce their carbon emissions.”

More About Mia Electric

The Mia Electric range was designed by the former head of design at Volkswagen, Murat Günak, and comes in three configurations – the standard short wheelbase model and two extended models, the mia L and the mia box van. The models were first shown in the UK at the 2011 EcoVelocity show at London’s Battersea Power Station.

The standard model weighs only 765kg (extended models weighs 786kg) giving it extremely economical power consumption and low running costs, which Mia estimates at approximately £1.30 per 62.5 miles.

All three vehicles are powered by an 18kW electric motor at the rear of the car that gives a top speed of 68 mph (100km/h). A 120 to 130km range is available from the 12 kWh battery pack that comes as standard and the lithium iron phosphate batteries can be fully charged in five hours. This technically sound battery system is exceptionally safe and helps alleviate range anxiety by allowing “no memory effect” charging. This means the battery can be charged for short top-up periods with absolutely no adverse effect to the life of the battery. (e.g. a ten minute charge will give an extra 8km of range).

The standard short wheelbase mia has three seats in total, while the extended mia L has four. Instead of three back seats, as in the mia L, the mia box van features a cargo capacity of 1,500 litres.

To find out more, visit www.mia-electric.com.