I was in Austin, Tx on Friday. Beasley Mitsuibishi has 5, 2016's iMievs. Four were the standard and one had the touchscreen. I got the impression this is the first time they have had EV's. The manager seemed eager to learn about ev's. We had a good discussion and provided my impressions of the "i" after the test drive.
Nice car, bigger on the inside than what you expect. Surprised that it felt very aggressive going into the turns, more so than a Leaf or Soul EV. I could really feel the tires had an impact. I kept thinking what does that remind me of? Then I remembered, it was like driving a VW Beetle with bias ply tires at high pressure. I was thinking the iMiev could really be fun with some radials, especially if one did not suffer the range penalty. It was like driving a gokart compared to the Leaf and Soul.
With the 60 mile range it would be suited for areas with a lot of charge points. Austin is such a location. I live outside San Antonio and we do not have the infrastructure that Austin has in place. The iMiev would not be ideal for the San Antonio areas if you are going from one side of town to the other. The car is not the problem, it is the weak infrastructure. In addition no super chargers in the area, just a mix of level 1 and 2 chargers. None are in the areas of San Antonio where we hang out on the weekends. When we go into San Antonio it is 25 miles each way, not counting for any mileage around town. Cutting it too close. If there was Supercharger or a lever 2 charger where we hang out, then there would not an issue since we would have a short wait for additional range.
Now the other 6 days out of the week the iMiev would be ideal for the small city we live it. No range problems in this situation. In our town, only 1 charger, Ford dealer. It is hidden and I don't know how they would feel about other brands using their connection. Most of the time it is blocked with new cars.
I really liked the car. For my situation I wish the iMiev had 20 miles more range.
The price after credits and rebates is very compelling. According to the Mitsu manager, Texas has a clunker program that will pay $3500 to turn in an old worn out 10 year old car for an EV. If true then $3500 for the clunker program, $2500 for the Texas EV rebate and the $7500 federal tax credit could be used toward the cost. That would get an iMiev down to $11k after TTL. Really compelling.
I will think about it and check on the Texas clunker program to see if it is still in effect.
I envy those of you that have plenty of charge stations when you are out and about. Allows you to make the longer trips.
I liked the simple nature of the car. In the Soul EV I felt like I was in the latest space ship NASA had built. There would be a lot to learn on the Soul as compared to the "i" with all the buttons and features on the touch screen of the Soul.
Nice car, bigger on the inside than what you expect. Surprised that it felt very aggressive going into the turns, more so than a Leaf or Soul EV. I could really feel the tires had an impact. I kept thinking what does that remind me of? Then I remembered, it was like driving a VW Beetle with bias ply tires at high pressure. I was thinking the iMiev could really be fun with some radials, especially if one did not suffer the range penalty. It was like driving a gokart compared to the Leaf and Soul.
With the 60 mile range it would be suited for areas with a lot of charge points. Austin is such a location. I live outside San Antonio and we do not have the infrastructure that Austin has in place. The iMiev would not be ideal for the San Antonio areas if you are going from one side of town to the other. The car is not the problem, it is the weak infrastructure. In addition no super chargers in the area, just a mix of level 1 and 2 chargers. None are in the areas of San Antonio where we hang out on the weekends. When we go into San Antonio it is 25 miles each way, not counting for any mileage around town. Cutting it too close. If there was Supercharger or a lever 2 charger where we hang out, then there would not an issue since we would have a short wait for additional range.
Now the other 6 days out of the week the iMiev would be ideal for the small city we live it. No range problems in this situation. In our town, only 1 charger, Ford dealer. It is hidden and I don't know how they would feel about other brands using their connection. Most of the time it is blocked with new cars.
I really liked the car. For my situation I wish the iMiev had 20 miles more range.
The price after credits and rebates is very compelling. According to the Mitsu manager, Texas has a clunker program that will pay $3500 to turn in an old worn out 10 year old car for an EV. If true then $3500 for the clunker program, $2500 for the Texas EV rebate and the $7500 federal tax credit could be used toward the cost. That would get an iMiev down to $11k after TTL. Really compelling.
I will think about it and check on the Texas clunker program to see if it is still in effect.
I envy those of you that have plenty of charge stations when you are out and about. Allows you to make the longer trips.
I liked the simple nature of the car. In the Soul EV I felt like I was in the latest space ship NASA had built. There would be a lot to learn on the Soul as compared to the "i" with all the buttons and features on the touch screen of the Soul.