PV1
Well-known member
Today is my third anniversary with the i-MiEV I call Bear. Over the last three years, my maintenance consisted of:
1. Recalls
2. Defective cell in battery pack, whole pack replaced for free.
3. Two sets of front windshield wipers.
4. One rear wiper.
5. Two sets of tires.
6. A bottle of low temperature washer fluid.
7. Several wash/wax jobs.
8. Plugging a marker light back in.
9. Sanding and repainting the wheels due to rust.
10. (Not sure if this counts) a dealer preformed gearbox oil change that wasn't necessary per the maintenance schedule.
I am very near to turning over 30,000 miles. My total energy usage so far is 7,800 kWh, netting a wall to wheels efficiency of 3.73 mi./kWh and an operating cost of 53.3 miles per dollar. With the extremely low gas prices currently being $1.69 a gallon, my parents' C-Max hybrid costs 25.5 miles per dollar at 43 MPG, excluding oil changes.
Since the i-MiEV replaced a Cavalier with a 25 MPG lifetime average, given a median gas price of $2.50 a gallon, I have saved $3,000 in gasoline over the last three years. Given what the i-MiEV cost with incentives, that takes my ~$21,000 investment down to $18,000. Over a 10 year life, I would have only spent around $12,000 to drive the i-MiEV, fuel costs only. The Cavalier was 10 years old already when I started driving it. Would it survive 20 years, I don't know. The body was starting to rust when it was traded for the C-Max. But, money aside, not having to deal with gas stations, oil changes other ICE maintenance, and the people I've met, and places I've gone, has made the last three years of driving electric well worth the investment.
The next three years looks to be really interesting, with the upcoming gen2 cars coming to market, the war of words the Koch Brothers are going to be putting out, and whatever Mitsubishi decides to do with plugins.
May all of us continue to smoothly and silently sail on. Happy anniversary, Bear!
1. Recalls
2. Defective cell in battery pack, whole pack replaced for free.
3. Two sets of front windshield wipers.
4. One rear wiper.
5. Two sets of tires.
6. A bottle of low temperature washer fluid.
7. Several wash/wax jobs.
8. Plugging a marker light back in.
9. Sanding and repainting the wheels due to rust.
10. (Not sure if this counts) a dealer preformed gearbox oil change that wasn't necessary per the maintenance schedule.
I am very near to turning over 30,000 miles. My total energy usage so far is 7,800 kWh, netting a wall to wheels efficiency of 3.73 mi./kWh and an operating cost of 53.3 miles per dollar. With the extremely low gas prices currently being $1.69 a gallon, my parents' C-Max hybrid costs 25.5 miles per dollar at 43 MPG, excluding oil changes.
Since the i-MiEV replaced a Cavalier with a 25 MPG lifetime average, given a median gas price of $2.50 a gallon, I have saved $3,000 in gasoline over the last three years. Given what the i-MiEV cost with incentives, that takes my ~$21,000 investment down to $18,000. Over a 10 year life, I would have only spent around $12,000 to drive the i-MiEV, fuel costs only. The Cavalier was 10 years old already when I started driving it. Would it survive 20 years, I don't know. The body was starting to rust when it was traded for the C-Max. But, money aside, not having to deal with gas stations, oil changes other ICE maintenance, and the people I've met, and places I've gone, has made the last three years of driving electric well worth the investment.
The next three years looks to be really interesting, with the upcoming gen2 cars coming to market, the war of words the Koch Brothers are going to be putting out, and whatever Mitsubishi decides to do with plugins.
May all of us continue to smoothly and silently sail on. Happy anniversary, Bear!
