Hawaii Teacher of the Year receives free Mitsubishi i.

During a recent ceremony held at Hawaii's historic Washington Place, Chad Miller, a language arts teacher at Kailua High School, received the prestigious designation of Teacher of the Year and was handed the keys to the all-electric Mitsubishi i. Miller will drive the i free of charge for an entire year and will be provided with two AeroVironment charging stations—one installed at his residence and the other installed in the parking lot of Kailua High School.

Mitsubishi Motors North America president and chief executive officer Yoichi Yokozawa, stated, "I believe the state of Hawaii is a great location for electric vehicles. The state can be an example to the world for zero-emissions cars. Hawaii can show others how to make it work." And, as we've reported before, Hawaii is truly an electric vehicle paradise with automakers, including Nissan and CODA, choosing to build an extensive electric vehicle relationship with Hawaii.

In case you're wondering when you'll be able to park a U.S.-spec Mitsubishi i electric vehicle in your own garage, Mitsubishi says the first batch of production-spec i hatchbacks will be "arriving in early 2012." That doesn't include the demo i units, which should hit U.S. dealerships sometime in November.

As for specs, the EPA says the Mitsubishi i has a range of 62 miles and Mitsubishi claims its $29,125 electric hatchback is the most affordable electric vehicle in the US.