Questions before buying an iMiev

I'm seriously thinking about buying an iMiev and have learned a lot from reading this forum. But I am concerned because my daily commute is 60 miles, right at the limit of the car's advertised range. Let me present my situation to see if you think the car will work for me.

I live in Central Florida, where high temps in the summer can reach 95F or slightly higher. So, yes, the A/C will be running a lot. We only have a few days or nights a year at freezing or lower. I have a carport (not a garage) with access to a 120V or 240V outlet.

My 30-mile one-way commute is about 22 miles of rural highway with speed limits of 50-60 mph, and about 8 miles of stop and go with 12 traffic lights. Once I get to work the car would be parked outside, with access to a 120V outlet. The return trip is the opposite routine but it will be much hotter in the afternoon. I can then plug in at home overnight.

So...will driving 50-60 mph for that distance with the A/C on, followed by 8 hours on a 120V outlet, give me enough of a charge to get home? Will there be any battery life issues with such a driving pattern?

I can't afford a Tesla, I don't trust Nissan, and the other EV's are not currently sold in Florida. If the iMiev is not a practical choice, I'll be left with either the 2016 Volt or possibly a diesel or hybrid as other fuel-efficient choices. Thanks!

RickeyG said:

My 30-mile one-way commute is about 22 miles of rural highway with speed limits of 50-60 mph, and about 8 miles of stop and go with 12 traffic lights. Once I get to work the car would be parked outside, with access to a 120V outlet. The return trip is the opposite routine but it will be much hotter in the afternoon. I can then plug in at home overnight. So...will driving 50-60 mph for that distance with the A/C on, followed by 8 hours on a 120V outlet, give me enough of a charge to get home? Will there be any battery life issues with such a driving pattern?

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RickeyG, welcome to the forum. To answer your question: as long as you can plug in at work into 120vac for even a few hours, you will have no problem. If you are buying a used 2012 i-MiEV, you may wish to have the Mitsubishi (Panasonic) EVSE that comes with the car upgraded to provide 12A at 120vac. EVSEUpgrade. The air conditioning consumes a relatively small amount of energy, especially compared to a heater in winter. Starting with a full charge at home, you should arrive at work with almost exactly half-charge for your type of commute. If you practice hypermiling, you can do better, but with the luxury of charging during working hours you will have no need to do that. As you start for home from work, your car will be more than adequately recharged for your trip home. Performing this routine on a daily basis will be easily handled by the batteries - just don't forget to plug in in the evening. Even at the slowest charging rate, you will recover four bars (out of the maximum 16 bars) on the fuel gauge in five hours, and one bar is roughly 4-5 miles, depending on how you drive. No worries!

Welcome to the forum.

Your commute sounds quite doable, and the fact that you have the possibility of workplace charging makes it even easier.

For highway driving, I find 55 mph uses about the same energy as driving on a main road at 40 mph if you're following a pickup or SUV. I would limit speed to 60 mph if you can, but 55 MPH is even better. I know a lot of people on the highway like to do 70 or better these days regardless of the speed limit.

For the outlet at work, I would ask permission up front about using it, and offering to meter and pay for the electricity if necessary. The Kill a Watt EZ makes metering 120 volt electricity usage very easy. Plus, the MiEV remote that is included with the i-MiEV (check for this if you buy used. Quite a few used cars don't have it) makes it easy to pre-condition the car while plugged into wall power. So, you could trigger AC about 20-30 minutes before you leave and the car will be cooled down inside without using battery power. The nice thing about a warm climate like where you live, the cold affects range more than excessive heat, and the AC is much less energy intensive than the heater (I don't like to say "more efficient", considering the AC is just doing less work than the resistive cabin heater).

8 hours of charging at work will give you roughly half a charge. Investing in a level 2 charging station for home would be a wise choice. This type of driving shouldn't cause any issues with battery life. What is the usual low temperature during the summer at night?

Low temps in the summer are usually 70-75F.

Your climate is similar to ours here in South Mississippi - 85 to 95 during the day, 70 to 75 at night. We run the A/C every where we go for at least 6 months of the year and as the others have said, it's not a big range killer

Joe has given you a very accurate account of what you can expect in day to day use - You will leave home each morning with a 'full tank' and charging at work, you'll probably leave work with a 'full tank' also - The possibilities are endless! Side trips for shopping/dining or whatever, I can't picture any circumstance where you'd have any range anxieties at all. So far as the cost of workplace charging, the most you'll be using is roughly 8 Kw per day charging there, which is about a dollar a day, should your employer want you to reimburse them for the power used

A prediction - You will come to love this car like few others you have owned!

Don

PV1 said:

Investing in a level 2 charging station for home would be a wise choice.

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I heartily agree with PV1's suggestion. A level 2 EVSE will cost a little money but will greatly enhance the EV experience by insuring a full charge every day, and providing a quicker way to charge when needed! I also agree with the advice from JoeS! You should consider sending off the EVSE that comes with the car to EVSEupgrade. For $287 dollars it will become a dual L1/L2 unit that can operate on 120V or 240V. Another benefit is that it can operate at a higher amperage on standard 120V current, meaning that it will charge your car a little faster on standard current. On the downside you will have to be without it for a week, so hopefully you have access to another vehicle to get to work while the unit is upgraded.

Your situation is similar to mine, in that my employer provides a place to park and a 120V outlet, but no EVSE. That means I must use my own EVSE. For me, it's quite a pain to get the EVSE out and hooked up every time I arrive at work, so I have an extra EVSE that stays at work all the time, plugged into the outlet and secured to a bollard with a security cable and padlock! When I arrive, all I have to do is park and plug!

Welcome to the forum!

I didn't see if you will try to by new or used. If you're considering a new iMiev (2014 or 2016) it comes standard with a 120v EVSE that charges faster than the older 2012 model. The old model charges only at 8amps. The new one can do that (for older/smaller capacity circuits) or at 12amps. This equates to roughly 900w (@ 8 amps) and 1400w (@ 12 amps); or about 4 vs. 7 miles of range recovered per hour of charging, respectively.

Or, you could get the EVSE upgrade as others have suggested. I didn't do that since I wanted to always have a "back-up" EVSE in the car and not have to remove it to charge at home each day. Which meant if I'd have two EVSEs, the one at home would be a 240v L2 (I have the Clipper Creek - I got for $395 - though it looks like you can get one for $379 now) and be done with it.

iwatson said:

... my employer provides a place to park and a 120V outlet, but no EVSE. That means I must use my own EVSE. For me, it's quite a pain to get the EVSE out and hooked up every time I arrive at work, so I have an extra EVSE that stays at work all the time, plugged into the outlet and secured to a bollard with a security cable and padlock! When I arrive, all I have to do is park and plug!

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I have a 120v at work too without EVSE, but use my conversion for which I have a short 4ft standard extension cord plug that I use. Anytime I steal my wife's iMiev and want to charge, it's sort of a hassle dragging it out - and a major pain if it's cold or rainy.

So, just something to think about as you embark on that newfangled way of commuting to work .

It's my understanding after conferring with the EVSE upgrade people, and a comment from another board member, that only the Panasonic EVSE that came with the 2012 model is upgradeable.

Sorry to say, there were too many questions about the ability I would have to charge at work so I bought a Mirage instead. Didn't help that the sales staff at one of the "premier" Mitsu dealers didn't seem to know much about the only iMiev they had on the floor. But, I hope to get 40+ mpg for now and will keep my eyes open for a used iMiev because I think one would work very well for my wife, who has a much shorter commute.

And I'm still amazed at the amount of knowledge on this forum! BTW, what is under the front "hood" on the car? The salesman didn't know how to open it.