Two Months and Two Thousand Miles

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum

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JoeS

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Our thoughts, after two months and slightly over two thousand miles…

The iMiEV has more than met our expectations (and I have no vested interest in Mitsubishi) …

Background

We already have long-term electric-vehicle experience: a couple of Corbin Sparrows have been our daily drivers for the past few years …with a usable range of about 25 miles, they're just fine for going into town (5 miles), running around town, and then coming home. In addition, we have a small pickup EV conversion useful for hauling and moving bulky stuff around - its range of 11 miles means we barely get into town and back and back home, but it works for that also. My Eco-Scoot electric scooter is my Lithium-xx battery experimental vehicle and actually gets used weekly to haul our trash/recyle/brush cans to the main road a half-mile away. Finally, my recently-acquired 1965 Saab EV conversion is a work-in-progress (I also own three other old non-electric Saabs). For longer-distance trips, we have our Gen1 Honda Insights, with mine having a lifetime mileage that is now down to 77.5mpg for over 80K miles, and wife Kathy still has her 1983 Toyota wagon with 300K miles that she used primarily to carry her bicycle. With an oversized solar-electric system at home, electric vehicles for us are a no-brainer.

Purchase Decision

I've been waiting for production electric vehicles way too long. Although I've talked a couple of friends into buying the Leaf, for us it is too large and opulent a vehicle. I finally gave up waiting when I found out my primary candidate (Honda Fit EV) was only going to be leased and would only be available (maybe) in limited quantities… I want to BUY, not lease, and have never forgiven GM for that stance on the EV-1 in the mid-90s (just think, I could have been driving my aerodynamic EV-1 all these years)!

The iMiEV attracted us for a number of reasons (in no particular order) -

It is small on the outside, yet very roomy on the inside with the spacious storage area in back with the seats down essentially making it a station wagon.

It has superior control over regen than the Leaf.

It has good exterior visibility, especially when the unused headrests are removed.

It has a wonderfully-tight turning radius … large SUVs jockeying in parking lots make me want to scream…

Its handling is good and it has the latest safety, braking, and vehicle-stabilizing features.

It has good acceleration and highway-cruising abiity … highway merging is never an issue.

It is more efficient than anything else out there.

I ordered the iMiEV as a Christmas present for my wife. Although she enjoyed the attention, she never has been comfortable driving the Sparrow which has no creature-comforts other than rain protection. The bicycle fitting inside the iMiEV was a prerequisite, much to the amusement of the Mitsubishi salesperson when we brought one to try it.

I knew exactly what I was buying, and knew the car better than the salesman…

After Two Months and 2000 Miles

We both love it! It has become our primary daily driver, although I still drive the Sparrow when Kathy takes the iMiEV.

It's efficient, averaging over 4miles/kWhr (actual wall-to-wheels), and certainly better than the EPA rating. The iMiEV is very responsive to hypermiling, making it super-easy to extend one's range if needbe.

The iMiEV's range has simply never been an issue, as we know the limits. The 62-mile EPA rating is easily beatable, although we don't usually take highway trips which much exceed 50 miles without recharging as I simply don't want to overly exercise the batteries. We have had a number of 100+ mile days with opportunity charging. I had hoped for better 65+mph highway mileage, but there's no overcoming the aerodynamics.

The iMiEV gets up and goes - good acceleration for merging with Interstate traffic and can go over 80mph if one wants to.

It's interesting that, although I have a Level 2 EVSE, most of the time I use the wimpy Level 1 EVSE that came with the car for overnight charging. The Level 2 EVSE gets used during the day to bring her charge up quickly in case we need to make another trip somewhere.

The instrumentation is just fine, with the fuel gauge and Range Remaining displays perfectly adequate at providing the needed range information.

With the last two months still being winter (even California mornings are near-freezing), the remotely-controlled vehicle and seat pre-heating system is nice in the mornings. :cool:

I love being able to manually control regeneration, and end up using the brakes only to stop the car in the last few feet.

The only unexpected problem I had was the limited horizontal field of view of the driver's side mirror, which I solved by installing a small convex mirror inside the car.

Knock-on-wood, absolutely nothing has gone wrong with our iMiEV.

Interestingly, the car does draw attention when on the road and when parked in town - the side-door power-cord graphics augmented by license-plate frames blaring out "100% Electric" tends to do that. We often get engaged in conversations and I'm finding that non-commuters in general are clueless as to the actual miles they drive in a day - so many people's perceived and misguided "range anxiety" is so ridiculously overblown! When i point out that opportunity charging is available everywhere (especially in their own garage) I get these puzzled looks and comments which make me think they hadn't thought it through… why do people think that you have to completely deplete the battery before recharging it or that you can't simply use an existing wall outlet in the garage to charge the car?

Best analogy I use is to tell the one about the cellphone; "Which would you rather have: take your cellphone once a week to a special station a few miles away which can charge it up in five minutes, or simply plug it in at home whenever you want and have it fully-charged every day?"

Most people who approach us simply are not aware that Mitsubishi makes a normal fully roadworthy electric car! In my opinion Mitsubishi is really missing the boat by not advertising the iMiEV around here - with fuel prices at $4.50/gallon and the iMiEV eligible for the white HOV single-driver exemption sticker, just identifying those two items in well-placed TV and newspaper commercials should make it very attractive to commuters.

Summarizing: as a "second car" which in reality has become our primary daily driver, the iMiEV simply fulfills its mission admirably.

Biggest problem we have is the gasoline getting stale in our remaining internal-combustion cars... :roll:
 
Joe- Great post. I agree with all you said.

I would add a few other things I like about the car:

1) It rides high, even for a small car. This was a major issue in me no buying the Mini Cooper;
2) Many places (including my work) offer free charging; and
2) The radio is quite good (though I wish the USB/iPod interface wasw much better).

I have no need in in the peninsula to use the car pool authorization, but that could be great for some.

I just wonder why it hasn't sold so well?
 
Go Joe! I'll second your post, with one small addendum; three months and 3700 miles ;)

Secondly, have you actually seen any problems with stale gas? When I worked in a wrecking yard during college I ran my beater pickup off of fuel drained from the hulks- now that was some stale gas! I just recommissioned a genset that had been sitting for years, and though I had to clean out the fuel tank due to a lot of water and sludge, the carb seems fine and the old genny is outputting more than it's original spec, continuously.
http://www.karmanneclectric.blogspot.com/2012/02/byov-build-yer-own-volt.html
I'm suspecting that the stale gas issue has been exaggerated by makers of additives like Sta-bil.
 
*ahem* Three months and... 4,011 miles!

Not really trying to play a game of one-up-manship, though. I only want to second Joe's post: We've been using this as our primary vehicle (clearly rather a lot!) and we are just in love with it. It is a perfect daily duty car, getting our kids to school and errands run. We both actually enjoy driving it, and enjoy the way it handles and runs. We'd recommend it to anyone (and often do!)

As for why it's not selling (assuming it isn't... it is hard to know what Mit. expects and can fulfill...) one word: Advertising. Or rather, the lack of advertising. No one we talk to has even heard of this car!
 
I'm curious what the USB support is like for the standard car stereo (not the HDD based FUSE system). Does it support only FAT formatted USB storage devices or do iOS devices work, too? Is there support for music players that use MTP such as the Galaxy Nexus Android phone?

I have a few old iPhones that can be pressed into service as music players but I'd much rather use my shiny new phone as an audio source in my i-MiEV when it arrives.
 
Am jealous of you guys. I am tempted to pull the trigger on one...but I really don't need another car right now. My newest car is a gas guzzler... 2010 Prius.
 
Update, after FOUR months and 4000 miles.

No issues, and we both love the car dearly! The iMiEV is proving to simply be a perfect fit for our lifestyle.
Doubt if I'll every buy an infernal-combustion-vehicle again in my lifetime.

All of my original comments (at the beginning of this thread) hold true, with high seating position, easy ingress/exit, tight turning radius, and very good all-round visibility being even-more appreciated attributes. We have the iMiEV configured as a station wagon and only raise the rear seats on those rare occasions when we have three or four people onboard. I fitted a rubber-backed carpet which covers the entire aft floor and folded-down seats and which protects the relatively-thin original upholstery.

Although I am no longer a commuter, the solo-driver HOV (carpool or diamond) lane ability has been very nice the few times I've needed it.

In another thread I discuss our energy consumption, which I keep updating:
Measured Wall-to-Wheels Consumption
With our oversized home PV solar array and 'free' public charging availability, our 'fuel' costs are virtually zero.

Yes, the iMiEV is indeed our primary transportation vehicle, and the gas is getting more and more stale in our other cars... :roll:

Summary: we are very happy we bought the iMiEV, as it meets our needs better than any other EV we can buy either presently or in the forseeable future. :cool:

Edit 6/17: One other thing I forgot to mention is how appreciative we are of the car's silence and lack of vibration. Now, getting into an ICE vehicle makes us cringe...
 
So, despite mixed reviews from critics with varying levels of knowledge, we see a consistent pattern of owners who actually live with these vehicles for months being very happy. After my test drives, I can see why.

Getting back to "why aren't they selling?", I guess I'd have to say you can't sell what you won't deliver. I placed a "pre-order" before the end of that program in April, but my car still shows as "being built" on the web page. It's a silver ES w/quick charge - any accessories/options beyond that can be installed by the dealer, so just how hard can it be to get this car? In light of stories of i-MiEVs sitting unsold on lots in SoCal and in the NE (those all-important high-priority first markets!), I'm having trouble understanding what Mitsubishi's priorities are. Why build cars on spec to dump at dealers when you've got orders in the hopper for confirmed sales? Why can't orders be fulfilled from inventory at other dealers? What are they DOING? :evil:
 
Vike:

I could not agree with you more. I pre-ordered my white ES with quick charge in January. The quick charge was important as there are several DC fast chargers already installed with more (73) planned in an area starting only 30 miles from where I live. Like yours, my status never changed from "being built".

It was the first, and as far as I know, only reservation/sale my dealer has had on the i to date. In March the dealer received two ES models. Colors; black and silver, neither with the quick charge option. In early May I received an update from the dealer, who had been excellent at keeping me informed on the cars status, that the i was expected to be delivered in mid June.

I was also informed at that time that even though other dealers were selling the i at discount, they would only sell the car at MSRP. Also, because I am 130 miles from the dealer (the only i certified dealer in the state), upon delivery it would be my responsibility to get the car home.

As much as the i met all my needs and was, and remains, my first choice for an electric vehicle, I made the decision to cancel my reservation. The next day I leased a Volt from a local dealer for $249 a month. I'll try again in 3 years to see what Mitsubishi has to offer.
 
archie_b said:
As much as the i met all my needs and was, and remains, my first choice for an electric vehicle, I made the decision to cancel my reservation. The next day I leased a Volt from a local dealer for $249 a month. I'll try again in 3 years to see what Mitsubishi has to offer.
Archie - None of my business, I know, but I'm really curious - You cancelled your order for your 'first choice' which 'met all your needs' . . . . and you tied yourself into a 3 year lease on a completely different kind of car?? Was this well thought out, or an impulsive decision?

What do you hope they'll have 3 years from now, considering that what they're offering right now meets your needs and is your favorite EV?

Just remind me it's none of my business if you like ;)

Don
 
Don said:
archie_b said:
As much as the i met all my needs and was, and remains, my first choice for an electric vehicle, I made the decision to cancel my reservation. The next day I leased a Volt from a local dealer for $249 a month. I'll try again in 3 years to see what Mitsubishi has to offer.
Archie - None of my business, I know, but I'm really curious - You cancelled your order for your 'first choice' which 'met all your needs' . . . . and you tied yourself into a 3 year lease on a completely different kind of car?? Was this well thought out, or an impulsive decision?

What do you hope they'll have 3 years from now, considering that what they're offering right now meets your needs and is your favorite EV?

Just remind me it's none of my business if you like ;)

Don

Actually, I understand archie_b's response to this series of provocations. $249/mo. isn't that hefty a payment, less than $9k over 3yrs (plus down payment, if any), and it may well be a wash if EV prices come down a bit more in the meantime, especially when Net Present Value of cash is taken into account (though, as I've noted elsewhere, unreliable govt. tax policy may throw a monkey wrench into that calculation). I really don't think it's impulsive to insist on straight dealing and fulfillment of commitments, and refuse to do business with those who won't play by those rules.

Personally, I like the i too, but it's not that great - if I lose patience with this process, I can walk away without losing any sleep over it. As it stands now, I'm in no great hurry, and the apparent softening of pricing in various markets can only weaken my dealer's position, since their internal policies require them to deliver the car the same calendar month that they close the sale, so I still have nothing in but the refundable $299 w/Mitsubishi. I have a ceiling on the cash I'll put in with my Toyota trade-in (I don't care what part they call purchase price and what part they call trade-in value), and if they don't like it, they're the ones sitting on an unsold EV in central New Mexico, not me.
 
Don:

I wanted an EV to replace my 2000 Honda Insight. The i met my needs for size, range and price. While the i was everything I wanted in an EV, I still had to make the final decision based on cost.

When the Volt, which is still an EV and is not completely different than the i, became available to lease at $249 a month I had to make a decision. Mitsubishi offers no leasing of the i, even after 8 months on the market, so purchase is the only option. Putting the same amount down the i would cost me about $535 a month for 5 years (tax, tags included). I could not justify such a large difference in monthly payments.

Some will say, what do I have after 3 years with the Volt? The answer is nothing.

What would I have with the i at the end of 3 years? $12,840 in remaining payments and a car that is worth ???. Mitsubishi has still not disclosed residual values for the i so no one knows what the car is estimated to be worth after 3 years.

What do I expect in 3 years for EVs: better battery capacity/life, longer range, more charging options, and most important more choices. Back in January I had my choice of 3 EVs; the Volt, the Leaf or the i. 3 years from now the list of choices should be much larger and like everything else, the more you make of something the lower the cost per unit.

To answer your last question, no this was not an impluse decision. Chevrolet did everthing to earn my business. Mitsubishi's attitude was more "this is what we have, take it or leave it". I chose to leave it.
 
archie_b said:
What would I have with the i at the end of 3 years? $12,840 in remaining payments and a car that is worth ???. Mitsubishi has still not disclosed residual values for the i so no one knows what the car is estimated to be worth after 3 years.

Wow, archie_b. You put it like that, I feel like going to test drive a Volt. I really didn't care for the lack of useful trunk space (it's less than the i's with the i's seats up, and of course there's no folding down for a big cargo area w/the Volt), but it was otherwise pretty neat just poking around in it at the auto show. Perhaps I owe myself a test drive before tolerating Mitsu's foot-dragging much longer.

I have no expectations regarding residual value for the i, but then I intend to drive it as long as the battery has useful range. Even so, all the residual talk has had me thinking about what happens if I get clobbered by some moron at an intersection five years from now and the car's totaled - just how big a check does the insurance company write?
 
I don't expect to get into an EV any cheaper in 3 years and the i meets our needs now. We looked at leasing a Leaf, and found that for the price of a 4 year lease, we could buy the i outright. We can't afford to start over with "new car" payments every 3-4 years, which is what we're trapped with leasing, unless we want to keep the car we leased, in which case, buying it makes more sense. (We didn't like the Leaf enough to want to buy it.)

My biggest issue with the Volt is that you have to maintain two systems, gasoline and electric. That might be worth it if your daily needs cannot be met with an all electric car, but in our case we can meet our needs with all electric so the Volt didn't make sense (plus, the Volt is a lot more expensive than the i).

Still glad to see another plug-in vehicle on the road, and I hope you're enjoying the Volt!

Jenn
 
Good point, jennrod12. I forgot to mention the ICE maintenance headaches, very much a part of the game with any PHEV. They're a big reason that I preferred a pure EV for my purposes (since we have the Prius for anything longer range). We'll see if Mitsubishi can get me my car next month (I've given up on June); after that, I'll review my options.
 
As a general rule, I've never found that leasing a vehicle makes much sense unless you can do it with a business that you own so you can write off a part if it, but Archie's reasoning has me rethinking that, at least when it comes to an EV - He knows what it's going to cost per mile right down to the nickel, whereas those of us who bought will eventually get a big surprise I suspect when the inevitable battery replacemernt time comes - We could be paying more per mile than he is with his lease

When Joe publishes his 'less than 3 cents per mile' figures for 'fuel' I automatically expect that we'll probably have to add a dime or so to that when we eventually pop $7500 or so for a new battery pack 75,000 miles from now and that actually makes 'fuel' for our cars a more expensive proposition than if we had bought a new 35 MPG econobox. It won't come as a shock to me . . . . I was figuring on a scenario something like this wheh I bought the car - I'm careful not to brag to my friends how much less I'm paying for 'fuel' . . . . at least until gasoline surpasses $5 per gallon. It's a win-win situation no matter how you figure it at that point

Don
 
Don said:
When Joe publishes his 'less than 3 cents per mile' figures for 'fuel' I automatically expect that we'll probably have to add a dime or so to that when we eventually pop $7500 or so for a new battery pack 75,000 miles from now and that actually makes 'fuel' for our cars a more expensive proposition than if we had bought a new 35 MPG econobox. Don

My thinking when making this purchase was that once the Miev can't make the 50 mile roundtrip I do once a week without having to opportunity charge, then I'll pick up another EV in 8-10 years and relegate the Miev as my second vehicle running short errands which still provides a practical benefit to me. If and when battery technology and pricing improves to the point where replacing the Miev battery makes sense to me, I'll replace our Miev battery pack but until then, I'll find a practical use for it based on it's battery capacity. Just because it's capacity is reduced, doesn't mean it can't still serve a purpose, maybe by then vehicle to grid technology will become a reality and the Miev will serve as a battery bank for my home PV array.
 
One good thing about the i is the powertrain and battery warranties. Anyone owning an i has a worry free powertrain for at least 5 years, and as long as 8 years on the battery. For the next several years don't expect too many mechanics working on the i powertrain outside of the dealership network. With the car fully covered by Mitsubishi there is little incentive for aftermarket involvement until cars start coming out of warranty.

There already is a small but growing core of businesses that provide LiON battery service and maintenance. With more and more EVs on the road this is one area you can expect continued growth and options.

If you want to keep up on what is happening in the EV world a good source is the Electric Automobile Association. They publish both a paper and electronic magazine, CurrentEVents, that is full of interesting articles and ads.
 
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