iGor's last ride

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum

Help Support Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

nt2w

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
86
Location
Potsdam, NY
What a beautiful day (finally) here in Northern New York- 60F and sunny, most welcome after the winter we had!

I took iGor the iMiEV out to stretch its legs today, doing what I had been hoping to do since June 2012 when I bought it.

I drove about 80 miles away from home, stopping to charge a couple times, longest stretch between a full top-off and the next charge station was 56 miles.

After that long stretch, I still had 5 bars left! I started with 86 miles RR and likely would have easily made 80-85 miles.

I was holding 35mph for most of the trip- the shoulders are wide on US11 and I could pull over and let faster traffic slip past without annoyance.

Now the sad part- the drive ended about a mile before the Mitsu dealer where I bought it (they flat bedded it up here because in 2012 there were no charging stations). I pulled into a Chevrolet dealer, where iGor will be taking a flat bed ride to another Chevy dealer 70 miles further south.

iGor is being traded for a leftover 2013 Volt. The deal was too good to pass up and the plug-in hybrid is a better fit for my needs at the present time. Still, it's sad to let the i-MiEV go... if there were any practical way to keep it, I would.

I feel in a way I'm stepping down, since between my old ZAP Xebra and the i-MiEV, I've driven a pure battery EV since 2007- something feels wrong about toting gasoline around, even if I'll be in battery electric mode just as much with the Volt back and forth to work as I was with the i.

It's been a great 13000 miles or so. The group here is great and was especially helpful (and consoling) when iGor's traction pack failed last fall.

I'll still lurk around here when I get a chance and will post when appropriate.

Cheers!

Rich
 
nt2w said:
iGor is being traded for a leftover 2013 Volt. The deal was too good to pass up and the plug-in hybrid is a better fit for my needs at the present time.
It sounds like a good deal for you, with the leftover discount, the trade in value of the i-MiEV, and the $7,500 federal tax credit.
I have also enjoyed your informed comments, especially your presentation on electric vehicles and photovoltaics.
What do you think would have been needed to keep you in an all electric vehicle?
Cheaper price? (The Tesla Model S with 265 mile range is very expensive.)
Increased range? (Say, 100 mile range or 200 mile range.)
More efficient heating? (The winters are very cold where you are located, and the i-MiEV's inefficient resistance heater and lack of insulation shorten the vehicle's range.)
A better charging infrastructure? (More Level 2 and Level 3 DC fast chargers at shopping centers, restaurants, gas stations and highway rest areas.)
nt2w said:
I'll still lurk around here when I get a chance and will post when appropriate.
I look forward to your review of the Volt.
 
PV1 said:
If you don't mind me asking, how much are they offering for your i-MiEV? My friend's looking to get one.

I got $10,500 for the trade, which was a little less than the $11k I was looking for, but more than the $9,500 another Chevy dealer wanted to give.

I had planned on asking $11k for the car for outright sale, which is less than KBB private sale price, but about on par with a good-excellent trade-in.

Here in New York (the Vampire State), taxes always figure into any financial transaction. By trading the car in, its value is deducted from the sale price of the new car. One pays sales tax (8%) on the net value of the sale. On the other hand, if one sells the car privately, the new car sale includes sales tax on the entire price of the new car. So, let's do a simple example...


TRADE IN
New car price $30000
Trade-in $10000
Net $20000
Tax @8%: $1600
Total out of pocket for the transaction: $21600


PRIVATE SALE
New car price $30000
Private sale $10000
Net $20000
Tax @8%: $2400
Total out of pocket: $22400

So the private deal loses $800- it's better to trade the car if possible, unless you can make it up in a higher price on the private sale.

BTW, in NY, the private buyer must ALSO pay sales tax on the car, so the State double-dips, collecting full value on the new car PLUS 8% on the private sale price.

Any wonder why people have the bumper sticker "Last one out of NY, turn out the lights" ?

Cheers-
Rich
 
RobertC said:
I have also enjoyed your informed comments, especially your presentation on electric vehicles and photovoltaics.
What do you think would have been needed to keep you in an all electric vehicle?
Cheaper price? (The Tesla Model S with 265 mile range is very expensive.)
Increased range? (Say, 100 mile range or 200 mile range.)
More efficient heating? (The winters are very cold where you are located, and the i-MiEV's inefficient resistance heater and lack of insulation shorten the vehicle's range.)
A better charging infrastructure? (More Level 2 and Level 3 DC fast chargers at shopping centers, restaurants, gas stations and highway rest areas.)

Thanks for your kind words, Robert. To explain my circumstances a little better...

My employer as part of its plan requires me to own a business vehicle that is less than 5 years old for business use. My 2009 VW TDI has reached the end of its eligibility to be my "company car" for business purposes. The i-MiEV would qualify age-wise, but that would mean that my business driving would have to be with the i-MiEV.

My job requires me to drive what many would consider long distance. While quite a bit of my work is local, I frequently make day trips of 100 miles with at least one 300 mile trip per month. The i-MiEV is just not up to that task.

Even with a bigger capacity, it would be doubtful that I could make one of those trips in a day without fast charging at least once. There is no fast charging infrastructure anywhere near me- some ChargePoint L2 infrastructure has popped up but I doubt I'll ever see CHAdeMO here in Northern NY.

Your remarks about the climate up here in the frozen tundra are valid. Typical range in the winter for me is not much more than 40 miles, and in the two winters I owned the car there were a handful of days I decided not to drive it because it was too close to the -22F service limit.

As much as I prefer the i-MiEV's simplicity, lower price and BEV "purity," the Volt probably suits my particular needs better. The i-MiEV is a perfect second car but couldn't swing full business duty in my circumstances.

My biggest complaint about the Volt is the price- in fact without the hefty factory-to-dealer incentive there's no way I could afford it. My secondary complaints are the crazy amount of complexity in the Voltec drive system and the "video game" nature of the cockpit.

Finally, having been here with the myimiev forum for two years and having just gotten onto the GM-Volt forum, I think I can say that the average knowledge level of folks here about EV's is much, much higher than the average over there! :) It's probably in part because the i-MiEV makes you understand everything better- with the Chevy, if all else fails, just gas it up and drive it! Not just the knowledge level, though- there appear to be lots of trolls with other agendas over there, where this group is more thoughtful and focused. Not that there isn't a load of expertise on GM-Volt, there's just more "noise." I'll miss the considerate conversation here!

Cheers-
Rich
 
Back
Top