i-MiEV Advertisement

[PV1]

FINALLY!! After more than a two-year presence in the US, I've finally heard an i-MiEV advertisement.

Jim Shorkey Mitsubishi ran a radio commercial this morning talking first about the Mirage and how it gets 44 mpg highway. Then Katie Shorkey comes in and says, "How about 126 MPG? Come check out the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV."

They are the only dealer around Pittsburgh that still has one. If I hear it again, I'll try to record it.

 

[Mart]

There's not much reason to advertise something you don't have or can't reliably supply, is there?

 

[PV1]

Not really, but I'm glad to hear the i-MiEV is getting a little love from the dealer. Back before I bought mine, nearly every Mitsubishi dealer around here had at least 4 on the lot. Why not advertise then when a steady supply was available? Why wait until now when no new i-MiEV's are available and you only have 1, maybe 2?

 

[Mart]

Why wait until now when no new i-MiEV's are available and you only have 1, maybe 2?

Because the 2012s must move NOW! Who will pay full price for it when the 2014 is on the lot?

 

[danpatgal]

There's not much reason to advertise something you don't have or can't reliably supply, is there?

They could be gearing up for the 2014 models on their way. Our local dealer in Lancaster, PA will have one next month. Hopefully Mitsubishi has learned something in the past two years on how much to price and advertise the iMiev to keep demand on a reasonably even keel with supply.

 

[ndm]

We have a local magazine in peterborough ontario called "greenzine" it's all about local environmental concerns and the "transition town" movement, it extols the virtues of local shopping and even has a local currency (the kawartha loon) of which peterborough mitsubishi will accept as currency, the best part is you buy the "loon" for $.90 on the dollar, they have taken the back page of every edition advertising the Imiev! Check it out www.thegreenzineonline.com/
Ps I'm not at all affiliated with the magazine or peterborough mitsubishi, just an imiev fan!

 

[Lithim]

From talking with various Mitsubishi dealers here in Houston it sounds like they each have only one car on order. I don't know is that is their choice (due to having 2012's sitting on the lot for too long) or if the initial supply of 2014's is production limited.
What has anyone else discovered?

Silver, ES with QC
Leased Feb. 2013

 

[psyflyjohn]

Long ago I've given-up on Mitsubishi promoting the Miev. It's one lousy company, and I certainly wouldn't buy any car from their line-up. I accompanied a friend yesterday to a Honda dealer. He was buying a Fit, which I highly recommended to him. While the transaction was being completed, the salesman asked about my Miev, which was parked in a spot outside the showroom. He was a young guy, and seemed genuinely interested in it. Said that he had never seen one before - in the media, or on the road. I offered him a "test drive", and he took me up on it !

Asked him about the status of the electric Fit. They haven't received any yet, and it seemed as mysterious to him as the Miev. That says a lot about the status of electrics with dealers.....

 

[MLucas]

Asked him about the status of the electric Fit. They haven't received any yet, and it seemed as mysterious to him as the Miev. That says a lot about the status of electrics with dealers.....

Honda's made their quota of 1100 Electric Fits and they have said they won't make anymore. That is all they needed to meet the California Air Resources Board requirements.
http://gas2.org/2014/02/27/honda-fit-ev-production-end-fall-despite-interest/

 

[Vike]

Honda's made their quota of 1100 Electric Fits and they have said they won't make anymore. That is all they needed to meet the California Air Resources Board requirements.

Back to my mantra:

Compliance cars suck.

 

[MLucas]

Honda's made their quota of 1100 Electric Fits and they have said they won't make anymore. That is all they needed to meet the California Air Resources Board requirements.

Back to my mantra:

Compliance cars suck.

They really do, and the worse part is that all of the Fit EVs are leased - they are still owned by Honda. Honda is still playing by the same rules they did in 2000.

 

[PV1]

Honda is still playing by the same rules they did in 2000.

Exactly why I bought my i-MiEV instead of leased. Who's to say that they won't pressure CARB and drop the mandate, again? They're already re-structuring ZEV credits to benefit hydrogen, and a few carmakers (Hyundai and Toyota mainly) that are pushing hydrogen much more than electric.

Chevy's Spark EV silently (no pun intended) became a compliance car. GM has no plans to expand its market. They shot themselves in the foot anyway for pursuing SAE Combo, which I don't think is available on the Spark yet.

Deja-vu anyone?

 

[JoeS]

Long ago I've given-up on Mitsubishi promoting the Miev. It's one lousy company...

Sorry, psyflyjohn, I have to disagree with that blanket statement, especially as the parent company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has been around for a long time and has quite a good reputation in the engineering world. At our own car level, I've been very impressed by the design and build quality of the i-MiEV. They produced a good product for a specific market segment, and let's not forget that in this recent EV generation they were first out of the gate with an EV in serious production quantities in Japan and Europe - sticking their necks out with Lithium while other companies were still 'evaluating'.

The number of 'issues' we've had has been minimal - go peruse some of the other EV sites to see the strandings and hassles some of those other new EV owners have been subjected to. So far, Mitsu has taken care of our forum members quite well for the few problems that have come up.

As far as Mitsubishi's seemingly non-existent advertising of the i-MiEV - can't help but wonder about the budget Corporate has allocated to Marketing? As the 2014 i-MiEV becomes available, it'll be interesting to see what their strategy is going to be. I've always thought that Mitsubishi was consciously low-keyed with their initial i-MiEV offering; however, now that they have experienced negligible issues, perhaps they will play up the car? I can't help but wonder if there's a Corporate concern that excessive success may overtax their battery supply chain, as their Outlander PHEV is Mitsu's current flagship with priority for the batteries.

 

[RobertC]

Long ago I've given-up on Mitsubishi promoting the Miev. It's one lousy company, and I certainly wouldn't buy any car from their line up.

I believe Mitsubishi is an excellent company, and I am thankful that Mitsubishi had the courage to offer an all electric vehicle nationwide. I find the i-MiEV to be an amazing little commuter car/mini cargo van, and a technological wonder. I have put over 28,000 miles on my i-MiEV in 22 months, and have used the i-MiEV to carry myself, my family of four (and a dog), and various bulky cargo. We have another gas-powered vehicle that can carry more passengers and go longer distances, but we hardly ever use it.

Remember, as car buyers in the US, we never get to deal with Mitsubishi, instead we get to deal with the legally mandated auto dealer middle men. I'm not sure why Mitsubishi has not advertised/promoted the i-MiEV more. Perhaps because the price of gasoline has dropped from it's peak of about $4 a gallon in April 2012. Perhaps because the US has been slow in adding charging infrastructure, limiting the potential market. On the crowded East Coast, where electric vehicles could make a real dent in the market, the only DC fast chargers that have been added in the last two years are at Nissan dealerships. There have not been any DC fast chargers added at highway rest areas, or at gas stations with convenience stores. Very few shopping centers or restaurants have added Level 2 chargers.

I would gladly buy another electric vehicle from Mitsubishi.

 

[PV1]

Apparently the commercial worked. Those two i-MiEV's they had are gone. They've had them for quite some time, too. I wonder if the commercial was related to me mentioning to do more advertising at the auto show. A couple of guys from that dealer were there when I was talking to them.

No i-MiEVs left on autotrader. 4 left on eBay.

 

[psyflyjohn]

The Miev was never touted to be a compliance car....but looking at their non-advertisement history, I'm beginning to think that the Miev really was a compliance car from the start. Guess history will tell.

 

[PV1]

If it was a compliance car, why send so many to the eastern US? Three dealers around me had around 6 on the lot, each, back when they were fresh. Another dealer had 2 when I did my first test drive, sold those two, and got 4 new ones and they all sold.

What's bugging me is, with at least 20 i-MiEVs at local dealers being sold, why have only 4 been spotted? I met a silver one at an EV gathering last summer, my parents saw a white one north of Pittsburgh, and my friend saw 2. The towns just south of Pittsburgh are prime EV territory (relative to the rest of the area), and lately I've been going through there regularly, but have yet to spot an i-MiEV on the road. Everybody I talk to says mine's the first they've seen.

2014 might not give much in the way of disproving the compliance car theory. Production is pretty low right now, and probably won't increase with Outlander PHEV sales maxing out the battery plants.