With $69 a month lease, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV becomes America’s cheapest electric car

The market for electric vehicles has grown past the early adopter stage into a typical pull of supply, demand and price — and with automakers building more plug-in cars than customers have demanded so far, price has only one direction to go. The clearest example to date of pure economics in action comes from an Illinois dealer who's offering a two-year lease of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric sedan for $69 a month before taxes.

The i-MiEV won't win either the talent or beauty portions of any pageant. While it's efficiency rating of 112 mpg-e ranks among the best for any EV car, it's only capable of 62 miles of range on a full charge. Consumer Reports called it "a glorified golf cart of limited use," and with a sticker of $32,000, the mystery of Mitsubishi selling 588 i-MiEVs last year isn't why that's so low, but who bought them.