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SteveB

Member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
16
Found this article about electric cars. Not a lot of Miev's being sold. They called it like a golf cart.

http://business.time.com/2013/12/07/the-major-problem-with-electric-cars/?hpt=hp_t5

It reports that 75 mile range on a single charge is superior versus 60 on the Miev. I don't know that I'd call that superior.

14k miles on my 2012 miev and about 6k on hers. Bought the second one when they had the big discount. It's a 2012 but it has the fast charger on it. Still have no place to use that yet but have managed fine with the 120v 8 amp standard charger on both of them so far.
 
SteveB said:
14k miles on my 2012 miev and about 6k on hers. Bought the second one when they had the big discount. It's a 2012 but it has the fast charger on it. Still have no place to use that yet but have managed fine with the 120v 8 amp standard charger on both of them so far.

This is one of the most surprising things for me after owning a Miev for 6 months or so. I thought I really needed a fast charger. The 120v is more than enough for me! I upgraded it but have not yet needed the 240v speed yet.
 
I read that same article this morning

I don't know who Brad Tuttle is (nor do I care) but he has about as much credibility writing about electric cars as I do nuclear fission, but evidently Time is so hard up for articles, they'll take them no matter how little the person who writes them knows about the subject matter

Does anyone else think it's a bit odd that he titles his article "The MAJOR problem with cheap electric cars" . . . . and then no where in his article does he actually tell us what the MAJOR problem is? A better title would have been "The MAJOR plus with electric cars". He DID answer that one - Like all other products associated with consumer electronics, the price is coming down, and not by just a little either

I'll add Time to my list of publications that I'll never buy - Right there beside Consumer Reports. Come to think of it, maybe Brad is a writer for CR :lol:

Don
 
I left some comments on there that will hopefully get some points across. Tpolen61 is the handle. Did anyone else notice the HUGE Chevron ad at the top? And they couldn't even post the proper picture against an obvious i-MiEV hate article?!
 
Come on, guys! The article is really not in favor of I-MiEV, but it is quite realistic. Our little car is really not a model of comfort, interior design, has a short-range (but sufficient for us), offers little for your money. The only advantage is the electric drive and savings offered by electric propulsion and subsidies.

It is true that it is sufficient for almost all our transport needs. This is also true that we can save a lot of money in its lifetime. However, the above-mentioned shortcomings can not be ignored.

We respond too emotionally to articles that point out the shortcomings of our cars. Most of people would never buy such car, including my wife :roll: They are not willing to give up the comfort enjoyed by the current cars and deal with the problems that today's small EV brings. We should understand them as they should understand and respect our choice to drive EVs.

Of course, it's just my opinion. I'm just not in love with my car. It's only my tool to get where I want to for free (almost).
 
Obviously I've been stirring the pot in that Time posting too. Not trying to troll, just EVangelize. ;)
Folks who only read mass market auto reviews and articles such as this don't have a clue about the driving characteristics that make EVs so much more enjoyable than any gasser in their price range.

For myself, a minimalist car with hidden performance attributes has always appealed, and that also explains the huge aftermarket performance subculture for Honda Civics, or back in the day, VW Beetles, and Grandpa's T-Bucket hot rod. I think that an I-MiEV EVOlution halo model that uses the lessons learned on Pike's Peak could do more for Mitsu's marketing dept than any price drop or upgraded base options package ever will.
 
Zelenec said:
Come on, guys! The article is really not in favor of I-MiEV, but it is quite realistic. Our little car is really not a model of comfort, interior design, has a short-range (but sufficient for us), offers little for your money. The only advantage is the electric drive and savings offered by electric propulsion and subsidies.

We respond too emotionally to articles ...

I agree that we respond sometimes too emotionally ... but I also think we're justified on some articles because many, like this one, are obviously one-sided. Like they have some vendetta against driving a small, economical, non-polluting car; and with a Chevron ad on the page, makes it just that much more insidious. Instead of giving the pros and cons, they go straight to the cons with ad-hominem attacks that show a clear bias with intent to influence. Calling it cheap, "golf-cart like", unsexy, an afterthought, unpronounceable, and under-reporting the range, saying it's "about 60" instead of giving the EPA number of 62. They didn't mention how simple, smooth, quiet, economical, fun, different, cute, useful ... it can be. Without that kind of balance this is not journalism, it's propaganda. We should be pissed and emotional about that kind of reporting! :x
 
After I cooled off, I thought I posted the following on that TIME piece, but for some reason it hasn't shown up:

This disjointed biased opinion piece with a catchy title and negligible substance which never answered the question seems to have had the goal of incensing EV advocates simply to garner comments. Yes, I fell into this trap.

Picking out the i-MiEV and referring to it as "golfcart-like" and "mostly an afterthought" tells me the writer has not done his homework nor even talked with an i-MiEV owner: the i-MiEV has most of the accoutrements of a modern vehicle: Active Stability Control, enhanced ABS, six airbags,etc., a top speed of over 80mph, brisk acceleration, and good handling thanks in part to the battery pack centered and down low underneath the seats. Entry and egress are superbly easy, there's plenty of elbow room in the interior, and the tight turning radius (rivaled only by a London taxi) coupled with small exterior dimensions makes maneuvering and parking in tight quarters a breeze. As to its suitability for its intended purpose as an urban workhorse, just consider the capacious flat-floor aft storage with the seats down offering more volume than all other EVs except the RAV4EV SUV and Tesla S.

Regarding "range", the article compared an i-MiEV with the Volt - I'd like to remind you that the Volt has an EPA electric range of 35-38 miles (vs. the i-MiEV's 62) and notice how repeatedly Volt owners crow over not having bought gasoline for months! The i-MiEV's range is more than adequate to satisfy over 90% of Americans' daily-driving needs, with over 200 miles/day easily achieved using only Level 2 charging. With CHAdeMO quick charge standard in the 2014 model, the perception of limited range will only be further dispelled.

Mitsubishi has produced over 30,000 i-MiEV's since 2009 which have been successful around the world, hardly an "afterthought".

"Lacks sex appeal" - to which sex are you referring? All the women and girls I know think the i-MiEV is "cute", and the innumerate pecker-challenged monster SUV and Pickup Truck crowd has other priorities.

"Only 12 sold last month" reflects the almost complete unavailability of this vehicle across the country. The price cut of next-year's i-MiEV model is welcomed and in-part reflects the Yen-$ exchange-rate shift of the past couple of years . Rather than a "Major Problem", the inexpensive i-MiEV will open the door to a fresh demographic which has heretofore been unable to participate in the EV 'revolution' - across the country and not just in California.

Yes, I own an i-MiEV and have over 22,000 very-satisfied miles on it. The iMiEV has become the PRIMARY car in the family, with the ultra-efficient Gen1 Insight hybrid relegated to long trip use. I can't wait for the new iMiEVs to show up as I have family members chomping at the bit.
 
I didn't bother commenting in the article because there is already enough EV discussion from all vantage points.

But reading through the comments makes me realize just how much my own opinion of EV's have changed. Pre-EV, I used to say that the EV would be a great second car. It doesn't take long before the second car label gets placed on the family ICE and the EV gets the title of primary car. Our ICE (a new generation Honda Insight) is used maybe 10% of the time. They both get about the same amount of miles put on them, but the daily driver is the Mitsubishi i.
 
I think the reasons behind many placing it as a secondary car look at the stats and think they do a lot of driving outside that range, but in reality are well within that range. Some don't have a grasp on their current driving patterns, and driving an EV makes that apparent. There's also other factors such as how fun the EV is to drive and how convenient they are that help also.
 
PV1 said:
I think the reasons behind many placing it as a secondary car look at the stats and think they do a lot of driving outside that range, but in reality are well within that range. Some don't have a grasp on their current driving patterns, and driving an EV makes that apparent.
I think that's true

When we first bought the car, we were thinking it would be good for maybe 75% of our needs and we would be driving one of the ICE's the other 25% of the time, but it hasn't exactly worked out as we had planned - We wouldn't need trickle chargers and gas stabilizer if we were actually using the ICE's as we had planned

Lately, I try pretty hard to find an excuse to drive the Miata, but it's stored in the garage in front of the iMiEV, so to use it I have to remove the iMiEV from the garage to get the Miata out and usually once I pull the iMiEV out, I just go ahead and make the trip in it instead

Our little Protégé 5 wagon only gets used for longer trips that the iMiEV can't do (usually out of state runs) or for the infrequent times we need a 5 passenger car (taking all 3 of the grandkids somewhere with the both of us) or for the infrequent times we need to pull a trailer bringing home lumber from the home center - But, we have brought home the occasional 8 foot board inside the iMiEV

Long story short - We drive the iMiEV more like 95% of the time and not the 75% or so we were anticipating. The ICE's have some very old gas in them and they're getting used to being on the trickle charger for weeks if not months at a time. Most people who don't think an EV would 'work' for them probably just don't understand how often their trips are 50 miles or less. For us, it works day in and day out, with much fewer exceptions than we originally thought

Don
 
Since my dad retired, the Cavalier barely gets driven. Last Thursday was the first time I drove it in a long time. The gas that was in it was 3 months old, the back tire was flat, and the battery was almost dead. At least the brakes weren't stuck like they were the first week I had the i-MiEV.

I wouldn't have driven it unless there's a hidden capability in the i-MiEV to do 110 miles at 65? :lol:

It's been solely the i-MiEV for 7,300 miles minus two or three trips in the Cavalier over the last 10 months. Although there were a few trips I shouldn't have made in the i-MiEV, I made it.
 
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