Mitsubishi is launching a new ad campaign for its four-door hatchback EV, the i. The company plans to begin rolling out the i early 2012.

Mitsubishi is launching a new ad campaign for its four-door hatchback EV, the i. The company plans to begin rolling out the i in early 2012, with a base price under $22,000 (after the $7,500 federal rebate).

The centerpiece of the new campaign is a small Illinois farming town called Normal. Earlier this year, Mitsubishi chose Normal as the home for its 1,000 EV test fleet and installed 30 charging stations around town. The city did its part by offering cash rebates of up to $300 for buyers. But it isn’t just the evocative name that makes Normal “the best place in the US to drive an EV.” Normal is home to one of Mitsubishi’s largest US factories.

Images of corn fields, water towers, ordinary folks sitting on porches, getting their hair cut at the local barber shop and happily driving their EVs down Main Street, the message behind Mitsubishi’s new ad campaign is clear: EVs are not just for eco-obsessed hippies and city dwellers.

Mitsubishi also plans to take the new i on a roadshow of cities on the Pacific coast, called the Electric Experience Tour.

Image: Mitsubishi