I-miev electric car

[Kurt]

Ok,
I was thinking there would be some minimum time frame to have the car and get the rebate.

I wish the AU government would offer rebates. We have zero help or insensitive to purchase EV. The RRP for the I-miev (going off Mitsubishi AU web page) in Australia is about $52,000 drive away. In 2010 when they first introduced the I-miev in Au they were a crazy $70,000 so no surprise only a few big company's least them and there were no private sales.

So at $24,000 I jumped on it as it was 1/2 the RRP and I don't see them being sold for any less in AU. In fact they wont be bringing in any more I-miev's into Au as a stocked item. Although Mitsubishi will import one for you on a one by one request base (and I am sure the price will be silly). Next year they will just be doing hybrids...shame.

Kurt

 

[oatnet]

Wow, $52k, when your do,lar is so close to the US dollar! MSRP here in the states is 30k - or was that the base sales price? I forget. No matter, you snagged yours, and get to enjoy it. I am sure I'll be missing your factory reliability vs my homebuilt Only-U-Can-Fix-It...

-JD

 

[Kurt]

24k was drive away price 12 months registration and I got them to throw in factory floor mats to ( though they are on back order ) The Au model is a little different to the US model I-miev. the AU model is more like the Jap spec. A little smaller than the US version and has the Fast charging DC charge port as standard fitment. Though there are very few true fast charging stations available at the moment. I hope that will improve with time and it is slowly.I do all y charging at home anyhow. Our stock charger is 240v so up to 3.3kw charge rate from home or 5hr charge is posable.

There are some real advantages in building your own ev though. If something was to go wrong your the master of your design and you know the car inside out. It's more work but I feel if something to technical was to go wrong on the I-miev I would most likely need Mitsubishi to help. With a diy build you would nut it out in no time and be back on the road without any out of pocket expense. I like the full independence of a DIY build and being the master of your own creation.

When the warranty is up on the I-miev or the battery is worn out I will most likely fit aftermarket cells and start playing with modifications or aftermarket gear to keep the package alive in the future. That will be fun

The I-miev is a good introduction to EV for my wife and she loves the EV idea now . Now I have wife approval it will be easy in the future to tackle a home build with support from her. Its not often she is enthusiastic about a car and the i-miev has changed her attitude to my idea.

I drove our old ICE car last night for the first time in a few weeks.The noise, vibration, smell, lack of mid range torque was very noticeable. It felt like i was on the brakes all the time. The tank was almost empty when I got in so I filled it up (local price $1.55 lt and that was a cheep day in the cycle) cost me $77 to fill the 50lt tank I could purchase enough electricity with that $77 to drive over 5000km in the I-miev ,I would be lucky to get 600km from the 50lt in the ICE car almost 10x more range -$ with the I-miev or free with solar.. Boy gas sucks I'm never going back !!!

Kurt

 

[Kurt]

I have now traveled over 1000km now in the Imiev . Typically I charge after traveling 100km distance. or 2/3 of a tank/battery.

Every time I need to charge the Imiev I take note of the km traveled and battery SOC. The numbers are put into a log book along with the true Kwh (from the plug) that it took to recharge the Imiev.

The numbers are so consistent its crazy. When I first purchased the car there was a large sticker on the window showing the fuel consumption of the car . It showed 135wh - km or 13.5kwh - 100km now this is true consumption measured at the plug so it includes all charging losses.

Every charge has been so close to this number its not funny.This last charge I drove exactly 100km distance (I charged at this point on purpose) The 100km of driving was a great mix. At times I had 4 people in the car and luggage. Some times 3, 2 and even just myself driving. There was some motorway driving. Some night driving and some air conditioner use. Some hilly terrain and some peak hr inner city driving along with the odd spirited driving up a hill and traffic light race :lol: . I would say you couldn't have got a better rounded mix of real world driving if you tried.

So with the trip meter showing 100km traveled and the SOC meter showing 13kwh consumed (sectioned into 1kwh increments) I put the I-miev on charge through a power meter at the plug. I let the car fully charge and balance the pack over night. This morning the meter was showing 3.2w standby consumption.

Total of 13.49kwh to recharge and balance the battery after traveling 100km. Spot on 135wh - km

Kurt

 

[heathyoung]

Darn you, I'm looking at these now. 3Kw of solar on the roof (grid feed) so would be paying Origin 4c for the priveledge of storing the energy for me.

Seen two used ones in WA going for 18K, and the majority around the 23/24K mark, wonder if they can do a good finance rate.

 

[Kurt]

Not sure about finance, I payed outright for mine but I know one guy in QLD payed the same as me 24k and he got fiance from Mitsubishi I think its very low interest.It didn't seem to effect his bargaining power in fact they might prefer it over cash as they make a little more $ in the long term. Just ignore the sticker price and make them a offer.

I would pay a little more and get the 2012 and up model new from Mitsubishi. For a few thousand more its a new car with 5/10 year warranty - fast charging port among a few other improvements.Over the 2nd hand 2010 gen 1 models going for 18k.

You would want to be quick though last news I had just before I got mine was there were was 88 Imiev's in AU and all were registered sent out to dealers across Australia to be sold off. Mitsubishi AU said they will wont be getting more in unless you do a special request ask them to bring you one in on a one by one basis (at a high price I am sure).

That past few months and a would say the next few months will be a great chance to pick one up at a price while they run the last of the stock out. You might not see this kind of a deal Au for a while.I'm sure they are taking a loss on the remaining stock but hey its our gain .

Kurt

 

[Kurt]

I have had the imiev for 1 year now :lol:

11,000km of driving and haven't touched the thing....there is nothing to do to it other than fill the water in the windscreen washer :wink:

I have settled into a long term average consumption from the battery of 100whr - km


Thankfully some smart people have sniffed out the data from the OBD port and created a free app called Canion. Now with a 7 inch android tablet and a Bluetooth OBD scan tool. I have all the live data anyone could ever need.

Individual cell Voltage, Temp
whr out
whr regen
throttle %
Pack voltage
live load Amps
Air conditioner consumption
Heater consumption

And a lot more

Full logging of all live data over a trip and all live and logged data graphically displayed.

All my 88 cells balance at 100% SOC within 5mv (photo taken at 3500km but they are still the same after one year) and only 10 - 20mv at very low DOD.
Individual cell balance at 100% SOC (all with 5mv..resolution of gauge)

Battery amps (0-100kmh test between red lines) notice strong Regen (negative amps) once I let off accelerator peddle

Speed during same 0 -100kmh test..was still accelerating at 130 but computer pulls the pin at 130 limit.(more than enough for our public roads)

log of consumption 30km distance at 100kkph constant on the freeway......result = ( 122whr km at 100kph, very efficient car)
(sorry Blacked out area is family's face in reflection)

log of same 122whr average consumption at 100kmh..As you can see its kind of hard to hold 100kph in the freeway as I needed to speed up and overtake people dribbling along at 98kph in the fast lane (so there is a few 130kph in there) but total average was just over 100kph

The logging of each trip and all the detail is very handy.


I have a bike rack for the back of it now so I can carry my electric trike or my peddle mountain bike on the back now.

I also fitted roof racks to make the car more handy to carry long things that don"t fit in with the rear seats folded down.

Offgrid solar to recharge. 2400w on lower workshop roof, 1800w on upper roof and 4000w on house roof total 8200w of PV (35kwh a day year round average). Comfortably charge the car from empty to full each day and run the workshop and house offgrid. Loving the free transport.

 

[litespeed]

Now that is a cool set up.

Tom

 

[dnmun]

i really do like the iMiEV a lot. i have seen only one here in portland and by accident the girl was stuck behind a flagman waiting for street construction delay so i walked out into traffic and talked to her and she loved it too. 70 miles was her max to totally dead driving through the coast range to the beach from here. mitsubishi paid for her tow to the high rate charger.

i adapted a Thule bike rack like that to fit on the rear hatch of my honda wagon too. i have used the bike rack to carry the rear end of very long loads on top of the wagon by adding a short wooden supporting spacer from the bike rack up to the level of the top of my car. 8' and longer. i have carried 4x8' sheets of OSB on top that way, 6 sheets. also i carried a 6'x6' sliding glass door on top of my wagon using the bike rack to support the rear end too. and two large thermopane windows, 6'x4' stacked on top of each other.

i have a lot of metal to hold the bike rack so i don't worry it will shift or tear off but i don't know how strong is the place where your bike rack hooks over the top of the rear hatch and if it is plastic or strong enuff to hold more. i don't think i would carry as much weight on an iMiEV as i do on my wagon though. plus it is a beater too so i worry not at all about scratches, etc.

your solar produces 4 times as much power each month as i use from the electric service. way way cool.

 

[Kurt]

Range is a funny thing as most people would know in a EV it's the same as a ebike. The range depends a lot on conditions terrain and speed. That said I have a good handle on the expected range in different directions all places are accessible within a 100km radius.To add to this I have set a self imposed rule of 20% SOC as my minimum whenever possible so the range is more I just don't use it all due to 20% min SOC rule. Typically I about 130km range in the city and about 110km range in country down to 20% SOC. The RR gauge that's giving you a guide to empty usually has something like 150km on it when i recharge again to full but I don't take it to empty.

Our house is 105km from the Capital city Brisbane and I can make it to the city via the freeway with 30% SOC still remaining on arrival. On the return trip back (because I have to climb a 550m elevation at 12% grade) I arrive with home with around 20% SOC. This is the longest trip I need to make and we don't go into the city that often as there is lots of large towns/shopping centers and so on with everything we need closer. Typical my trips to the closest local town and back are 25km return. To the ocean/coast on the weekends is about 75km return and most other surrounding towns in all directions are within 25 - 80km return. So unless I am going on a long holiday trip usually interstate (I have the 4wd for that and a camper trailer for that) the Imiev has the range to get to all my regular destinations.

The thule bike rack was a good deal. I found it at a garage sale and the lady just wanted to get rid of it. She purchased a different car and had no need for it. The top straps actually hook under the hatch hinge section and don't really apply any significant load to the plastic spoiler. that said I consider it a light duty bike rack when fitted to the Imiev. I have carried my electric recumbent trike on it fine . I have also carried my wife's folding ebike on it to (both with batteries removed from the bikes) The recumbent trike can even go on the roof racks, folding ebike in the hatch with seats folded down and peddle duel suspension mountain bike on the thule rack all at the same time. So lots of options.

The largest thing I have carried on the Thule roof racks is two solid core house doors. Longest thing was a stack of electrical conduit about 4 1/2 Meters long. I have a duel cab 4wd utility with 3 roof racks and a trailer for all the serious heavy-large work but when ever practical I like to do things with the Imiev. As it's just better value to use it with free fuel. When faced with the two options ..one spend $10 in diesel or...two drive for free in the Imiev. Usually the Imiev wins

Fuel is expensive locally petrol and diesel is $1.60 lt about $6 a US gallon. Electricity is about 30 cents a Kwh if your on the grid. so I am doing all I can to avoid the two.

Kurt

 

[adam333]

The charging from wall to battery is very efficient. Got to love lithiums. Doing the calculations 106km driven on 14.37kwh =(135wh/km) exactly what the energy efficiency sticker on the window said or at $0.156kwh (my off peak tariff 33 in Brisbane) $2.10 for 100km of driving Or the equivalent of a petrol burner using (1.2lt - 100km) at today's local petrol prices.

Fuel is expensive locally petrol and diesel is $1.60 lt about $6 a US gallon. Electricity is about 30 cents a Kwh if your on the grid. so I am doing all I can to avoid the two.
Kurt

Nice set up Kurt,

I finaly sold my car and got a used full equiped i-Miev 2012 this year. ( price list is around 18k$ after 2 years, and it was 36k$ new ) this one was a dealer demo though.

So far, the average cost to run it is 1.6$/100km ( electricity is roughly 7.3 cents/kwh here ) an eqivalent of 1.3 Lt/100 km ( petrol at 1.3$ / Lt )

I expect to save 3000$ / year in fuel, between riding this and my E-bike.

Now, I need to give this Canion app a try

 

[Kurt]

Nice one

It's a under rated forgotten little car. Typicaly my consumption from the battery (avarage) is around 100whr/km when just going with the flow of traffic around my area and up to 110 - 120whr /km if I have more freeway driving or driving up in the hills.

Taking in all recharge efficiency from the wall I usually pull around 13kwh to recharge after 100km driving.

Yesterday I actually achieved a record for my trip home from the hills 102km driving (hot day say AC was on most of the way) got home with 5 bars on the dash gauge & 42km Range remaining on the meter. Canion had me down for 91whr/km and /5whr-km of that was Air conditioning. That's with 3 people in the car and mixed country/freeway / city trip.

Battery capacity is as good as new.

Its one efficient little EV that will grow on you the longer you own it.

Have fun

 

[fechter]

Supposedly the Lithium Titanate batteries will last much longer than other chemistries out there today. Only time will tell. I got 10 years out of my Nimh Honda hybrid pack.

By the time the pack wears out, there will likely be even better batteries available.

 

[Kurt]

Are you sure about that ?

I know there are two kinds of cells used in the Imiev. One is only available in Japan and is a smaller capacity only ( 10kwh) vs (16kwh) the smaller capacity bank is built with a chemistry that can handle lots of DC fast charging. Over there they do a lot of public DC fast charging and don't need the range of the 16kwh bank. Cant recall the two chemistries of the top of my head.

this is what is on wiki
"In June 2011 Mitsubishi announced the introduction of lithium titanate oxide SCiB battery technology for its two new models of electric vehicles, the i-MiEV and Minicab MiEV. The SCiB technology was developed by Toshiba, which stated that its SCiB batteries can withstand 2.5 times more charge/discharge cycles than a typical lithium-ion battery. In addition, recharging via CHAdeMO takes much less time than charging at the AC Level 2 rate used by most electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), allowing the SCiB battery to reach 80% capacity in 15 minutes, 50% in 10 minutes and 25% in 5 minutes. In terms of performance, the SCiB battery offers a higher effective capacity than a typical lithium-ion battery, which combined with more efficient regenerative charging during braking or coasting downhill, allows the SCiB battery to deliver 1.7 times the driving range per charge of a typical lithium-ion battery of the same size. Alternatively, the carmaker could install a smaller battery with less weight and keep the same range to contribute to lower the vehicle price as compared to lithium-ion batteries.[22] Recharging is estimated to take 14 hours from a 110 volt power supply, 7 hours from a 220 volt power supply and as little as 30 minutes from a quick"

But I seem to recall it was discussed on a Imiev forum and the conclusion was the SCiB batterys were only the small (10KWH) banks in the Jap Imievs. I could be wrong.

I haven't noticed any decrease in range though over winter (we have a mild winter where I am) I did notice a drop in range of about 5% or so. but I seem to have gain it back again now I am entering into our summer again.

Kurt

 

[dnmun]

i just wish they had sold a lot more of them over here. i could not afford one new but hoping i can find one later but i suspect they will be hard to find since so few were sold here.

 

[fechter]

Ah, I assumed all of them had the SCiB. It would be easy enough to tell with a voltmeter. The SCiB cells run around 2.4v. Of course they don't make it easy to access the cells, but maybe someone has a picture of a pack. Count the cells and divide the pack voltage by number of cells.

Still, 10 years from now or whenever the pack loses too much capacity, there may be something much better around.

 

[edcastrovalley]

Hi Kurt, How's the i-miev? I know it's another year now. I only ask because I bought a used 2012 I-miev ES in July for $8 that only had 2k miles (3 km) on it. I love the car and drive it everywhere. It has 5k miles (8 km) on it now. Looking at your i-miev and my larger North American i-miev, I'm not sure which I would like better. I mean, if I had a choice between the two, I'm not sure which I would take. I do like the extra room I have but, there's something to be said for having a faster car with longer range. With careful driving I can get 70 miles (112 km) but I understand that the smaller i-miev can do 100 miles (160 km).

Mitsubishi has a video on youtube where they gave some journalist several different models of i-mievs on a close race track and let them race each other. At the finish line 3 or 4 of the smaller Japanese versions came in first followed by a larger North American i-miev then after that, a gasoline i-miev. :lol: