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bigdonkeybren

New member
Joined
Sep 19, 2015
Messages
1
hi there everybody.

I'm considering buying a 2012 i. i live in palm springs and mostly commute locally 10 miles each way with cargo of 400lbs. one day per week i would need to drive to joshua tree which is 37 miles away....BUT, the elevation climb from palm springs to joshua tree is 2300 feet - its got a couple really big hills. i can charge all day (7 hours on 240) while I'm there to get me back home.

will it make it?
is there an app or way to calculate energy needed to make a trip based on terrain/weight?
do the charging areas at fresh & easy or at the mall work with this car?
is this 2012 model capable of the 30 minute quick charge at charging stations?

thanks for your time everybody.
 
Welcome

My experience says it will not be an issue. I often hike in the mountains now that I can do the drive on solar energy :D

So, my trip is from 4950ft elevation to 8530 elevation which is ~ 3600 ft of climbing. The mileage to the trailhead is 31 miles one way. When I get there the car usually says I have between 11 and 14 miles remaining. But I make it back (31 more miles) without any charging in the mountains with 16 to 24 miles remaining when arriving back at home. I also have a big toolbox behind the car which generally weighs 130 to 170 lbs. I have also done the trip with two occupants ~300lbs plus the toolbox.

More important than the cargo is how fast you must drive during this trip? If it's all freeway at 65 or 75 that is going to be worse power consumption wise.

Aerowhatt
 
bigdonkeybren said:
is this 2012 model capable of the 30 minute quick charge at charging stations?
It's a capability that exists in the 2012 i-MiEV, but, not in all of them.

Look for a circle like a gas cover on the rear driver's side of the car. Then, find the release lever for this hatch on the floor beside the driver's seat -- not the one on the dashboard that pops the passenger-side, J1772 port. OK, so if you've made it this far, you're looking for this:

10052002DC_fast.jpg


If that's there, you should have fast charge capability.
 
BTW, the "regular" charge port, on the passenger's side:

2012-Mitsubishi-i-MiEV-Charging-Port.jpg


I can't speak specifically to "the charging areas at fresh & easy or at the mall", but they're probably this. Almost anywhere that advertises electric car charging will have this, except for some fast-charge-only sites, and Tesla sites. It's pretty universal, but slow.
 
bigdonkeybren said:
...i would need to drive to joshua tree which is 37 miles away....BUT, the elevation climb from palm springs to joshua tree is 2300 feet - its got a couple really big hills. i can charge all day (7 hours on 240) while I'm there to get me back home.
If you were careful, you could probably do the round trip on a single charge as regen would give you back a good bit of what you lost going up ... but the RR gauge would scare you the first time you took the trip as it computes a 15-mile moving average. :roll: Since you can recharge in Joshua Tree, this trip is a piece of cake. Just don't go up there at 70mph.

Much as I like doing the math, forget trying to do energy calculations. Not worth the effort, and fairly soon after you get your i-MiEV you will become comfortable with what you can or cannot do (if you pay attention).

Your other questions have been nicely answered.
 
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