jjlink=> I couldn't find anything in the manual about how much to charge up the battery or any affects that might have. I doesn't seem to have an option, other than doing a full charge. It does say that you can stop the charge partially at any time without harm. It also says not to "top off" an almost full battery, as this can affect long term capacity. Not sure if this is true, but I read somewhere that the battery is programmed to only charge to 92% for a "full" charge.
Despite the article that quoted Mitsubishi saying that quick charging will not affect battery life, the manual states that quick charging will shorten the battery life if done too often.
It says to completely use the battery down to two "bars" and then a full charge once every three months to keep the indicators reading accurately if the capacity changes.
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Been having fun! Yesterday I visited a friend in Ainaloa..about a 50 mile round trip, that goes on the highway (55 mph limit), and I arrived with only having used three bars. It made it home easily with four bars still left on the gauge...(includes the 1400' climb on the way home). One thing that is nice...the "go home" feature on the nav system gives a miles remaining readout...so you can feel very comfortable knowing you have 33 mile range, but only 4 miles to go for example. I did not use air conditioning, since I'm still exploring the capabilities of the EV. It appears to have plenty of range for 98% of my needs!
Driving at night is very nice. The headlights are precisely aimed and bright enough, and the high beams are really great! I was happy to discover this with my aging eyes!
One thing I discovered that was quite interesting...After charging my car all the way, and heading down the 1400' hill into town...I discovered that if the battery is full, you don't really get any regen braking effects to speak of, and end up using friction brakes instead. So it would be helpful for me to discover a way to leave one bar not charged so that the strong regen braking effect could be used without having to waste brakes. Also, one other thing that is interesting...when applying brakes, as you first start to depress the brake pedal the first thing that happens is that the "eco meter" drops into full regen until you reach a very slow speed...I'm not sure if that means that friction brakes are not being used in the first inch of brake pedal use, or if it's a combo effect.
I've been getting a lot of looks and people asking how the car is working for me. The first question is always "how far can it go on a charge?" Then lots of folks are asking if there is any savings by buying electricity instead of gas. Luckily here on the Big Island HELCO offers an 18cent/KwH off peak rate for EV charging (compared to our current 42cent/KwH rate). Gas right now is about $4.25/gal on the Big Island. As I've mentioned I'm putting in an extra 8 265W solar panels for a household total of 32 panels, which should come close to covering all my needs.
Still waiting for my electrician to get the permits to install the 220V Eaton charger that's taking up space in my carport. So far overnight charging on 110V has been sufficient for the useage I've been doing. Will be nice to have a faster charging capability when it's in place though.
I'm really enjoying the quiet, smooth ride and many choices for playing music...which all work great...USB memory fob playing mp3s, CD's, music copied to the hard drive, and radio, and even bluetooth from my phone!