i-MiEV Prototype in 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
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I think Nissan did the Pikes Peak last year in a stock LEAF and did pretty good?
It will be interesting to see how a Mitsubishi i-Miev can do on the climb, although it's not really a Mitsubishi iMiev.
It looks like a custom one-seater chassis that uses the Mitsubishi iMiev drive components. I think they should offer this version of the iMiev for sale - I bet it gets more range, better MPGe and everything than the current iMiev!
It will be interesting to see how a Mitsubishi i-Miev can do on the climb, although it's not really a Mitsubishi iMiev.
It looks like a custom one-seater chassis that uses the Mitsubishi iMiev drive components. I think they should offer this version of the iMiev for sale - I bet it gets more range, better MPGe and everything than the current iMiev!
Dan O
Active member
That's pretty cool! I wonder how long it will be before someone offers a fiberglass two seater sports car body for the "I"? Something that makes it look more like a Tesla roadster or an import sports car.
Can I test drive that one? 
Note that Mitsubishi says: "The i-MiEV Prototype will use the same EV components as the current production i-MiEV." This doesn't exclude too much. I assume they will reprogram the motor controller to feed the motor a lot more power.
The stock torque curve drops at higher RPMs. If you can keep the motor from overheating, it could (at a minimum) sustain the high torque output at high RPMs. With more voltage, the motor could produce even more torque. I have no idea how far they might be able to push the motor without cooking it but I bet it's quite a bit (maybe jray3 can shed some light on this). But, notice the large air inlet on the front of the car. That indicates to me a lot of cooling capacity for the motor or batteries.
As for the battery capacity. The race is only about 12.5 miles long. The basically stock Nissan Leaf ran it in 14 1/2 minutes. So, lets just say the i-MiEV will take 12 minutes (0.2 hours).
If we divide the 16 kWh of the stock battery by the .2 hr, we get an average power output of 80 kW or 107 HP. It seems likely to me that with a beefed-up cooling system, they could run the stock motor at this power level without it melting down. But Mitsubishi didn't even exclude using two motors or two battery packs.
As for MPGe, I don't think a race car would do better than the stock i-MiEV. It's hard to guess which has a greater total aerodynamic drag. The stock car probably has a better Cd than the race car, but the race car may have a lower frontal area. Which weighs more is impossible to guess as it will depend so much on how much battery capacity Mitsubishi puts in the race car. But those wide race tires aren't going to roll as easily as our little tires. As for range, with the race being 12.5 miles long, I be the race car will have a range of about 15 miles. :lol:
Note that Mitsubishi says: "The i-MiEV Prototype will use the same EV components as the current production i-MiEV." This doesn't exclude too much. I assume they will reprogram the motor controller to feed the motor a lot more power.
The stock torque curve drops at higher RPMs. If you can keep the motor from overheating, it could (at a minimum) sustain the high torque output at high RPMs. With more voltage, the motor could produce even more torque. I have no idea how far they might be able to push the motor without cooking it but I bet it's quite a bit (maybe jray3 can shed some light on this). But, notice the large air inlet on the front of the car. That indicates to me a lot of cooling capacity for the motor or batteries.
As for the battery capacity. The race is only about 12.5 miles long. The basically stock Nissan Leaf ran it in 14 1/2 minutes. So, lets just say the i-MiEV will take 12 minutes (0.2 hours).
If we divide the 16 kWh of the stock battery by the .2 hr, we get an average power output of 80 kW or 107 HP. It seems likely to me that with a beefed-up cooling system, they could run the stock motor at this power level without it melting down. But Mitsubishi didn't even exclude using two motors or two battery packs.
As for MPGe, I don't think a race car would do better than the stock i-MiEV. It's hard to guess which has a greater total aerodynamic drag. The stock car probably has a better Cd than the race car, but the race car may have a lower frontal area. Which weighs more is impossible to guess as it will depend so much on how much battery capacity Mitsubishi puts in the race car. But those wide race tires aren't going to roll as easily as our little tires. As for range, with the race being 12.5 miles long, I be the race car will have a range of about 15 miles. :lol:
rokeby
Active member
Last year Nissan entered an unmodified LEAF in the Pikes Peak International
Hill Climb. To be realistic, it was a PR event. They take no prisoners there:
Mitsubishi apparently isn't content with just running an i up the hill.
It looks like they are taking aim at the EV event record holder:
EV Record Holder
My personal favorite would be for Mitsubishi to use the event to run the
three motor, liquid cooled iMiEV Sport (Air) and announce its worldwide
release in 2013.
A pipe dream, I know.
Hill Climb. To be realistic, it was a PR event. They take no prisoners there:
Mitsubishi apparently isn't content with just running an i up the hill.
It looks like they are taking aim at the EV event record holder:
EV Record Holder
My personal favorite would be for Mitsubishi to use the event to run the
three motor, liquid cooled iMiEV Sport (Air) and announce its worldwide
release in 2013.
A pipe dream, I know.
jennrod12
Well-known member
Here is a picture of one of the two Mitsubishi entrants into the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The second is supposed to be a relatively stock i with a more aerodynamic front bumper - I'd like to see that!
http://www.eurotuner.com/news/eurp_1205_mitsubishi_electric_vehicles_2012_pikes_peak/index.html
Jenn
http://www.eurotuner.com/news/eurp_1205_mitsubishi_electric_vehicles_2012_pikes_peak/index.html
Jenn
Running one motor to drive the front wheels and two motors in the back, this is one potent machine! Really looking forward to seeing it perform. The world has sure changed: "Tuning" this vehicle's drivetrain is primarily software tweaking. I hope they get it right.
I hope they get it right.This article shows both of the cars.
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2012/05/mitsubishi-details-2012-pikes-peak-hill.html
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2012/05/mitsubishi-details-2012-pikes-peak-hill.html
Wee John
Well-known member
We're getting closer. Here's the first Youtube video. I want that front bumper on my car, no ugly bug eye indicators.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWWV7b69FBY&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWWV7b69FBY&feature=plcp
jennrod12
Well-known member
Cute video.
Jenn
Jenn
Hi Guys, couldn't find the Pikes peak heading again, so put a new topic on, feel free to correctly put it in the right topic please.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuPNsTGL944
Interview with lady, plus footage of Japanese Chap in the imiev.
Note she reckons the stock imiev will use about half the battery, and travel around 70 Mph. UP HILL !
*Merged topics 5:39PM 8/11/2012*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuPNsTGL944
Interview with lady, plus footage of Japanese Chap in the imiev.
Note she reckons the stock imiev will use about half the battery, and travel around 70 Mph. UP HILL !
*Merged topics 5:39PM 8/11/2012*
I don't know if they have managed to repair the prototype:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/08/mitsubishi-imiev-evolution-crashes-on-first-practice-day-of-pike/
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/08/mitsubishi-imiev-evolution-crashes-on-first-practice-day-of-pike/
FiddlerJohn
Well-known member
From Road and Track: http://blog.roadandtrack.com/beccy-gordon-to-race-mitsubish-i-miev-pikes-peak-2012/JoeS said:
Hiroshi Masuoka crashed in practice at Engineer’s corner, and the whole front of his potent 3-motor i-MiEV Evolution had to be rebuilt. After a new steering rack was flown in from Japan and an all-night thrash, they are testing the car today at Pikes Peak International Raceway.
FiddlerJohn
Well-known member
Good technical info here:
http://www.houseofjapan.com/auto-moto/mitsubishi-at-2012-pikes-peak-international-hill-climb
While the i-MiEV Evolution is a prototype racing car, numerous components and systems are carried over from the street-legal production car. These include the electric motor, lithium-ion batteries, MCU, communication wiring for controls, and various instrumental panel gauge. Utilizing as many stock components and systems from the production 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV is a critical design element to the i-MiEV Evolution because Mitsubishi Motors engineers want to identify performance limitations of these production parts under the strenuous conditions of the Pikes Peak event so that they may work with their supplier partners (many of whom have sent key personnel to the Pikes Peak event) to gather and share engineering feedback.
Drivetrain
The i-MiEV Evolution features three electric motors, one front motor and two rear motors. These electric motors are identical to those found in the production Mitsubishi i-MiEV, but they have received a software upgrade to increase the motor's power output from 49 kW (65.7 horsepower) to a more potent 80 kW (107.3 horsepower).
Likewise, the individual lithium-ion battery cells found in the production Mitsubishi i-MiEV have been used for energy storage in the i-MiEV Evolution, just in a larger quantity. While the road going version of the vehicle's main battery pack stores a total of 16 kWh, the Pikes Peak car's energy storage is rated at 35 kWh – more than twice as large as that of the street car.
Cooling of the lithium-ion batteries is accomplished by a ventilation fan (per Pikes Peak regulations) while the electric motors are cooled in a nearly identical manner to that of the electric motor in the production Mitsubishi i-MiEV, using a similar water-cooled system.
The i-MiEV Evolution is charged exclusively by DC quick-charging; Mitsubishi will have a specially-prepared truck equipped with a CHAdeMO DC quick-charging device at the Pikes Peak event.
Electric Motor Characteristics
By reworking the inverter control settings and increasing the maximum rpm to 11,000, engineers were able to select a shorter gear ratio to gain an advantage in acceleration speed.
A key characteristic of these changes is that the electric motors are able to maintain maximum torque output in a lower rpm range for better lower and mid-range acceleration that better suits the uphill climb of the roads that wind their way along the Pikes Peak course, with the added benefit of minimizing the power output loss at higher rpm levels (when compared to the stock production i-MiEV).
Of note, both the electric motor and its accompanying inverter hardware are identical to those found on the street-legal 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV.
High Voltage System Configuration
Using the identical individual lithium-ion battery cells from the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV production vehicle, a higher voltage and capacity was achieved by connecting two cells in parallel, 96 cell pairs in series.
Each electric motor will receive information from its own controller to generate/modify torque output. Of note, the two electric motors placed at the rear of the vehicle are directly connected and are synchronous, while the single front motor feeds power to the front wheels through the production-spec transmission found in the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV production car.
Advanced New Mitsubishi All-Wheel Control (AWC) All-Wheel Drive
The one front/two rear electric motor layout was selected to provide a 1:2 front-to-rear ratio of power application. By doing so, Mitsubishi engineers were able to achieve the tractability and stability benefits of all-wheel drive while allowing the car to have handling characteristics more akin to that of a rear-wheel drive vehicle – the best of both worlds in terms of ideal vehicle dynamics.
Depending upon the condition of the road surface at Pikes Peak, the team will be able to adjust the front/rear power application level to maximize the vehicle's dynamic performance.
Data gathered from the new All-Wheel Control (AWC) all-wheel drive system used on the i-MiEV Evolution will be used to help develop a highly advanced AWC system that will be available on the next-generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) when it arrives in North America in the near future.
http://www.houseofjapan.com/auto-moto/mitsubishi-at-2012-pikes-peak-international-hill-climb
While the i-MiEV Evolution is a prototype racing car, numerous components and systems are carried over from the street-legal production car. These include the electric motor, lithium-ion batteries, MCU, communication wiring for controls, and various instrumental panel gauge. Utilizing as many stock components and systems from the production 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV is a critical design element to the i-MiEV Evolution because Mitsubishi Motors engineers want to identify performance limitations of these production parts under the strenuous conditions of the Pikes Peak event so that they may work with their supplier partners (many of whom have sent key personnel to the Pikes Peak event) to gather and share engineering feedback.
Drivetrain
The i-MiEV Evolution features three electric motors, one front motor and two rear motors. These electric motors are identical to those found in the production Mitsubishi i-MiEV, but they have received a software upgrade to increase the motor's power output from 49 kW (65.7 horsepower) to a more potent 80 kW (107.3 horsepower).
Likewise, the individual lithium-ion battery cells found in the production Mitsubishi i-MiEV have been used for energy storage in the i-MiEV Evolution, just in a larger quantity. While the road going version of the vehicle's main battery pack stores a total of 16 kWh, the Pikes Peak car's energy storage is rated at 35 kWh – more than twice as large as that of the street car.
Cooling of the lithium-ion batteries is accomplished by a ventilation fan (per Pikes Peak regulations) while the electric motors are cooled in a nearly identical manner to that of the electric motor in the production Mitsubishi i-MiEV, using a similar water-cooled system.
The i-MiEV Evolution is charged exclusively by DC quick-charging; Mitsubishi will have a specially-prepared truck equipped with a CHAdeMO DC quick-charging device at the Pikes Peak event.
Electric Motor Characteristics
By reworking the inverter control settings and increasing the maximum rpm to 11,000, engineers were able to select a shorter gear ratio to gain an advantage in acceleration speed.
A key characteristic of these changes is that the electric motors are able to maintain maximum torque output in a lower rpm range for better lower and mid-range acceleration that better suits the uphill climb of the roads that wind their way along the Pikes Peak course, with the added benefit of minimizing the power output loss at higher rpm levels (when compared to the stock production i-MiEV).
Of note, both the electric motor and its accompanying inverter hardware are identical to those found on the street-legal 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV.
High Voltage System Configuration
Using the identical individual lithium-ion battery cells from the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV production vehicle, a higher voltage and capacity was achieved by connecting two cells in parallel, 96 cell pairs in series.
Each electric motor will receive information from its own controller to generate/modify torque output. Of note, the two electric motors placed at the rear of the vehicle are directly connected and are synchronous, while the single front motor feeds power to the front wheels through the production-spec transmission found in the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV production car.
Advanced New Mitsubishi All-Wheel Control (AWC) All-Wheel Drive
The one front/two rear electric motor layout was selected to provide a 1:2 front-to-rear ratio of power application. By doing so, Mitsubishi engineers were able to achieve the tractability and stability benefits of all-wheel drive while allowing the car to have handling characteristics more akin to that of a rear-wheel drive vehicle – the best of both worlds in terms of ideal vehicle dynamics.
Depending upon the condition of the road surface at Pikes Peak, the team will be able to adjust the front/rear power application level to maximize the vehicle's dynamic performance.
Data gathered from the new All-Wheel Control (AWC) all-wheel drive system used on the i-MiEV Evolution will be used to help develop a highly advanced AWC system that will be available on the next-generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) when it arrives in North America in the near future.
jray3
Well-known member
Results courtesy of Davide at eLithion, but verified. Nice EV showings overall, but as expected, Beccy Gordon in the stock iMiEV finished waay down at the bottom. Too bad they didn't reprogram her inverter like Hiroshi's!
There are 7 EVs:
1st.: #230 Fumio Nutahara Japan Toyota Motorsport (race car).................... 10:15.380 OVERALL: 6th!
2nd: #32 Hiroshi Masuoka Iruma Japan Mitsubishi Motors (race car).................10:30.850 OVERALL: 8th!
3rd: #311 Elias Anderson Austin TX HCE (race car).......................................11:00.8 57 OVERALL: 13th!
4th.: #13 Michael Bream Carlsbad CA BMW (sedan car).........,.......................11:58.929
5th: #16 Ikuo Hanawa Ibaraki Japan Summit (race car).................................11:58.974
6th: #34 Beccy Gordon Dana Point CA Mitsubishi Motors (sedan car)...............15:10.557
na: #1 Nobuhiro Tajima Tokyo Japan............................................. ........... Did not finish
Tajima did not finish: fire in the cockpit after 1/2 mile, driver is fine. They are having problems towing him back down, because of direct drive, and because battery keeps on of catching tire. They can't leave the car up there, because of the danger of starting a forest fire.
There are 7 EVs:
1st.: #230 Fumio Nutahara Japan Toyota Motorsport (race car).................... 10:15.380 OVERALL: 6th!
2nd: #32 Hiroshi Masuoka Iruma Japan Mitsubishi Motors (race car).................10:30.850 OVERALL: 8th!
3rd: #311 Elias Anderson Austin TX HCE (race car).......................................11:00.8 57 OVERALL: 13th!
4th.: #13 Michael Bream Carlsbad CA BMW (sedan car).........,.......................11:58.929
5th: #16 Ikuo Hanawa Ibaraki Japan Summit (race car).................................11:58.974
6th: #34 Beccy Gordon Dana Point CA Mitsubishi Motors (sedan car)...............15:10.557
na: #1 Nobuhiro Tajima Tokyo Japan............................................. ........... Did not finish
Tajima did not finish: fire in the cockpit after 1/2 mile, driver is fine. They are having problems towing him back down, because of direct drive, and because battery keeps on of catching tire. They can't leave the car up there, because of the danger of starting a forest fire.
jray3
Well-known member
Second video, they milked the crash instead of trying to minimize it.
https://www.youtube.com/user/MitsubishiCars?feature=watch
With the successful use of reprogrammed stock components at this sort of duty cycle, the future looks bright for some lucky hacker...
https://www.youtube.com/user/MitsubishiCars?feature=watch
With the successful use of reprogrammed stock components at this sort of duty cycle, the future looks bright for some lucky hacker...
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