Prospective owner questions

As the original owner of a 2000 Insight that needs replacement in the near term, the preferred replacement out of a field of 5 candidates is the I. After a test drive this weekend, I have a couple of questions;

1. I found the ride to be a bit jolting, even compared to my Insight. I could probably live with/adjust to it, though my wife will be driving it some as well. Have any spouses grumbled about the ride's harshness?

2. I read the thread on the H&R suspension, though it seems that the front springs are the only ones that are easily replaced. Do these moderate the ride to the point that it is more 'normal'?

3. How many use a 13A or 16A Level 2 charger? For those that do, how do charge times compare with 30A chargers?

4. It appears from anecdotal reports that range at 55 mph is roughly 50 miles. Is that correct?

Skyemoor:
1.The ride is OK, can be rough if you are driving over poorly paved surfaces. If the road surface is in good condition, I have no complaints about it.
2.Can't answer that, I am not a car guy, just a driver.
3.If I understand the nature of your question, I think it's important to explain that the car will only charge at up to 3.3 KW per hour, which equates to about 10 miles range per hour. I don't believe it would make any difference what type of level II you have, the on board charger will limit this to 10 miles per hour. A 6.6KW on board charger would permit up to 20 miles per hour, but the car has 3.3KW only.
4. Yes, that's a pretty good estimation. Also, weather and terrain will affect that range. Really cold days, using the heater, up hill, you will probably see less than 50 miles range.

Lou

“1…Have any spouses grumbled about the ride's harshness?”
Not since she put 2 layers of egg crate packing foam and a homemade seat cover over that. A bonus is it insulates in the winter (no seat heater needed) and cool in the summer (it breathes well). I bought it for me but my wife drives it 900 miles/month and I do about 100 miles/month.
She drives it because it’s much cheaper than gas.

3. I use the modified (EVSE upgrade) and use the 240V 13A charge the most (6 hours max). The last hour the current goes way down as the charger cell balances.
4. Could be. We drive it around town the most for 30-40 mile days.

-Barry

skyemoor said:

As the original owner of a 2000 Insight that needs replacement in the near term, the preferred replacement out of a field of 5 candidates is the I. After a test drive this weekend, I have a couple of questions;
1. I found the ride to be a bit jolting, even compared to my Insight. I could probably live with/adjust to it, though my wife will be driving it some as well. Have any spouses grumbled about the ride's harshness?

Click to expand...

I've found the ride very similar to the Insight's, and a lot depends on tire pressure and road quality.

skyemoor said:

2. I read the thread on the H&R suspension, though it seems that the front springs are the only ones that are easily replaced. Do these moderate the ride to the point that it is more 'normal'?

Click to expand...

jray3 can answer that. Being used to small cars, I find the i-MiEV's ride quality quite comparable to other lightweight short-wheelbase vehicles.

skyemoor said:

3. How many use a 13A or 16A Level 2 charger? For those that do, how do charge times compare with 30A chargers?

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Do not confuse the 'charger' (which is built into the vehicle) with the EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) that you plug into. A 13A-capacity L2 (240vac) EVSE is sufficient to provide full charging rate to our i-MiEV.

skyemoor said:

4. It appears from anecdotal reports that range at 55 mph is roughly 50 miles. Is that correct?

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As the owner of a Gen1 Insight, you are very familiar with the exceptional range improvements resulting from hypermiling. Since you normally want to leave yourself a 20% range margin, at 55mph the realistic number is around 50 miles, but it can be easily upped to 60-70 miles by careful drafting and other hypermiling tricks. By far the greatest range robber is aerodynamic drag, with the heating system also being a range-wrecker (but the seat heaters consume a negligible amount of energy). Once you start driving EVs, you quickly develop a knack for optimizing all the variables to ensure you comfortably get to your destination.

skyemoor said:

1. I found the ride to be a bit jolting, even compared to my Insight. I could probably live with/adjust to it, though my wife will be driving it some as well. Have any spouses grumbled about the ride's harshness?

Click to expand...

On smooth roads, it rides really well! On bumpy roads, it rough and loud. Because the engine is so quiet you also hear more sounds that you would normally. The car seems tuned to smooth roads. After awhile, I got used to driving over bumpy roads.

skyemoor said:

3. How many use a 13A or 16A Level 2 charger? For those that do, how do charge times compare with 30A chargers?

Click to expand...

I have both Level I and Level II in my garage. Have NEVER used the Level II, not even once. Never needed it. If you have the time to recharge (about 14 hours from empty to full on Level I with the EVSE upgrade) why fast charge? I don't drive much but once a month or more, I drain the battery going on 60 mile runs. But plugging in after I come home is enough to have a full charge in the morning.

The one thing I wish this car had was a better crash rating. Other than that, it's a well engineered car and does the job of people and stuff moving.

On the suspension - we find it to be a little harsh ,
but once we racked up a few miles on it and broke it in,
it did soften up from when it was new.

I noticed after this year's warm up that my i-MiEV acts like a much heavier car now. It's much smoother on the highway (I don't get the front-rear rock on seamed concrete). It still hits hard on mismatched road surfaces and railroad tracks. The i-MiEV rides better than my old Cavalier.

It can take corners like my Dad's Camaro. The performance of the i-MiEV truly impresses me.

Thanks to all for the input. I've actually ended up purchasing a Prius Plug-in, as Toyota had a $4500 incentive, the dealer took off $2000, and there's still the $2500 tax credit. However, we are expecting to replace both of our cars, so the iMiEV is still in the running for the other car.