New Member Introduction

[BarryP]

First time poster. We bought the iMiev Friday 6/7/13 from a SLC UT dealer. He delivered it Sunday. We’ve driven it 100+ miles to date. Some things that convinced me to buy:
1. No more oil changes!
2. No more catalytic converter changes!
3. No more exhaust system changes!
4. No more timing belts
5. No more spark plugs and its cohorts
6. No more fuel pumps
7. How about-- just no more ICE maintenance toil and costs!
8. No more fighting gas lines but just ‘filling up’ right at home.
9. Wow that sound system sounds good!
10. Take advantage of lower Idaho Falls electric rates so it’s about 1.8¢/mile
11. Love the large cargo space when back seat is down.
12. $10K Mitsubishi discount + Fed tax credit

I like the above posters that pointed out the plastic panels. I like that! My Prius has too many shopping cart dings. I like the other idea of getting a 12V passenger seat heater. This begs the question- What’s the current rating of the 12V outlet?

-Barry

 

[JoeS]

BarryP, welcome to the Forum as a new iMiEV owner. I took this opportunity to use your post to create a new Topic (thread) and moved your posting into it (and plan on going back and including other new member introductions into it here). To answer your question, the accessories outlet is fused at 15amps and IIRC a number of owners have used 12v seat heaters, vests, gloves, boots, etc. In addition to the great reasons you posted, some of us consider zero emissions as a significant reason, and you'll get to really appreciate the iMiEV's superb turning radius.

 

[Quercus]

Here's my New Member introductory post...

I'm in the New Haven, CT area and picked up our "Labrador Black" iMiev two weeks ago. It's been a great commuter / chruch / errand mobile! The kids love it. But my wife's been so busy and we bought it at such short notice that she hasn't even driven it! Time for an iMiev date!

 

[MLucas]

Nice to see all the new faces on the forum, that means more i-MiEVs on the road. It's a great car, very efficient and just plain fun to drive. I'm almost at my 1st anniversary, just scheduled a maintenance appointment - not having anything done other than the two recalls (clipper creek and vacuum pump). The car doesn't need anything else, this is the way driving should be.

 

[HParkEV]

Another new owner and forum member checking in! Took delivery of my Ocean Blue i-MiEV on June 3rd.
I had an i-MiEV in my 'sights' ever since the car came out, and the current incentives made me pull the trigger.
Although in Canada we don't get $10k like in the US, we do get $7k on the 2012 'premium' model, which is basically an SE in the US, plus in Ontario $8,231 from the government, actually worth a thousand less after sales taxes are taken into consideration -they charge 13% HST BEFORE taking the grant off the price! In any case, a good deal for an incredibly efficient piece of machinery.
Really happy with the car after nearly two weeks of daily driving, but a little apprehensive about what winter time will bring. So far we only had perfect weather, no need for AC or heat. We will need the car for every day commuting between 30km (19 miles) and 70km (44 miles) round trip for my wife or myself.
Nice to see a community with a lot of good info on the i!

Martin in Toronto

 

[sandange]

Welcome to you new members.
In the beginning, the biggest concern for us was the range anxiety.
Once you familiarize yourself where the public charger locations are & get used to your normal commuting routes it quickly goes away.
We just went through a wicked cold winter here in Quebec and made out fine, Be prepared to preheat before departure and expect a drop in range in the colder temperatures.

 

[MLucas]

Another new owner and forum member checking in! Took delivery of my Ocean Blue i-MiEV on June 3rd.
I had an i-MiEV in my 'sights' ever since the car came out, and the current incentives made me pull the trigger.
Although in Canada we don't get $10k like in the US, we do get $7k on the 2012 'premium' model, which is basically an SE in the US, plus in Ontario $8,231 from the government, actually worth a thousand less after sales taxes are taken into consideration -they charge 13% HST BEFORE taking the grant off the price! In any case, a good deal for an incredibly efficient piece of machinery.
Really happy with the car after nearly two weeks of daily driving, but a little apprehensive about what winter time will bring. So far we only had perfect weather, no need for AC or heat. We will need the car for every day commuting between 30km (19 miles) and 70km (44 miles) round trip for my wife or myself.
Nice to see a community with a lot of good info on the i!

Martin in Toronto

Welcome! Another Canadian - quite a few of us on this forum. You will do just fine with that mileage in the winter. The car will easilly do 100km during fair weather like we are having right now, but it will drop to about 80km in poor, cold weather. If you have the opportunity to charge during the day in the winter even using the provided L1 110V EVSE, you'll find that the car is more than adequate for your needs. I drive about 43 kilometers each way to work. The car will easilly make it to work and back without a charge but in the winter I like to take advantage of preheating the car and having that extra cushion just in case.

 

[WyVern]

My first post (not in the forum but as an actual iMiev owner). Picked up a great deal but unfortunately the dealer provided only a 90km charge on collection despite knowing I had 150 purely highway kilometres to get home.

Cue the emergency plan - no aircon, lights or radio, keep speed under 90kmh for the first 50km stint to a caravan park where I had organised a recharge. Because of the limited range provided by the dealer I arrived with less charge than planned and had to take longer to recharge than planned.

Left after a free recharge (strangers love the imiev) for the next 50km highway stint to a city quick charger. $6 parking and free recharge later I had to make the call to leave in daylight or risk having to run the headlamps for the next hour.

Decided to head home with the range displaying 53km to attempt a 51km highway drive!

Thank goodness for google maps, I got home having had to detour off the highway in order to reduce speed and utilise regen braking as much as possible. I literally got home as the indicator reached 0km and no bars left on the battery indicator.

Safe to say I have now experienced all my range anxiety in one hit and expect clear sailing from here on in . Got home to an excited family, my kids have responded to this car in a way they never have to any other. Day one, challenging, but a resounding success

 

[DonDakin]

Welcome new Imiev owners.

HParkEV,

Sandage and I went thru last winter just fine. It was a learning experiance (part of the fun). The car performed better then I thought it would. It was really nice
to have it go beyond expectations. There is a nice thread on winter drive somewhere in here with lots of info and pictures.

30KM in ther winter is no problem at all even all the way down to -25 Deg C.

70 KM is more difficult depending on the temp and road conditions. Doable but a little L1 charging at work would make it a piece of cake. But since you are in Toronto with higher temps then here in MOntreal I suspect you will be fine.


Congratz on your new purchase......

Don.....

 

[HParkEV]

Thank you for all the kind words and reassurance. I also think the winter should not present a big problem, especially that I can use a charger at work, either the Level 1 right outside the door, or a public Level 2 installed a 4 minute walk away from my office. However, my garage is not heated, so I can only rely on the charger and the battery warming system itself keeping the battery at an operating temperature. Temperatures below -25 celsius are quite rare in Toronto, and anything above that seems not to be a big issue for the i, so I am feeling confident.
Of course pushing the range on the car will on occasion happen as unexpected errands pop up, and I realize that wintertime is much more likely to bring out the limitations.
In 15 days of ownership I've already accumulated over 1200km (750 miles). Having a job which involves occasional client visits, a spouse that commutes to work on weekends, plus two kids with lots of after school activities means that the car will get substantial use, and unexpected trips pop up frequently. This is the only reason I'm a little anxious about winter. So far the i was able to handle anything we throw at it!