Options for storing an i-MiEV on jack stands for 6 months

[alohart]

I have lifted my i-MiEV onto jack stands so that its tires won't flat-spot or dry rot where they contact the concrete surface for 6 months. In the rear, I could place the jack stands under the jack points along the sides of the body which would allow the suspension to hang at full extension. Or I could place the jack stands under the De Dion beam axle which would keep the car's normal weight on the suspension. I placed the jack stands under the beam axle because it seems much more solid than the sheet metal edges that form the jack points. Is there any advantage/disadvantage of either method?

In the front, there doesn't seem to be an obvious location to place the jack stands under the suspension to keep weight on the suspension. There is a solid looking tubular beam that runs side to side and to which is welded a towing ring. I could place jack stands under this beam or under the jack points. In either case, the suspension would hang at full extension. I have chosen to place the jack stands under the jack points even though they don't appear to be too solid. With less weight on the front of the car, I figured these jack points might fare better than the rear jack points. Plus, I don't know whether this lateral beam is designed to hold the weight of the car.

If you have experience placing your i-MiEV on jack stands and have any advice, I'd love to hear it (well, by 10 April before we board the airplane for Sweden

 

[jray3]

Well Art, I've lifted my miev by the four sheet metal jack points a half-dozen times in the past week, yanking and shaking on the suspension while way up in the air. Not a bit of wobble while on the lift, and no dents or deformation in the jack points. A pinch-welded sheet metal sandwich is very strong!

har de bra i Sverige!

 

[alohart]

Well Art, I've lifted my miev by the four sheet metal jack points a half-dozen times in the past week, yanking and shaking on the suspension while way up in the air. Not a bit of wobble while on the lift, and no dents or deformation in the jack points. A pinch-welded sheet metal sandwich is very strong!

Good to know. Having owned a couple of rusty '60's-era Porsches, I'm leery of jack points that don't look too strong.

har de bra i Sverige!

Tack så mycket! I'll be back to driving my 2000 Honda Insight hybrid for 6 months. Although it is VERY fuel efficient (great considering European gasoline prices), driving it feels positively primitive compared with my i-MiEV (well, except for the instrument cluster

 

[siai47]

Beyond suspensions, make sure you take care of your batteries. Make sure the main battery is charged to somewhere around 50% SOC---these things just don't lose much charge sitting and sitting with a high state of charge isn't recommended. As to the 12 volt battery, you need to put a trickle charger on it. If you don't have power available where you are storing the car, take the negative terminal off the battery to keep it from going dead while you are gone.

 

[alohart]

Beyond suspensions, make sure you take care of your batteries. Make sure the main battery is charged to somewhere around 50% SOC---these things just don't lose much charge sitting and sitting with a high state of charge isn't recommended.

Because since July (!) I have been denied 7 times an electrical permit to install a charging circuit in my condo parking space, I have relied 100% on public chargers and have thus driven only when necessary. So it was ironic that I had to drive up steep hills with the heater and A/C on max (alternately) and then coast down in neutral to avoid regen to reduce the charge level of my battery pack to 5 bars prior to storing my i-MiEV.

As to the 12 volt battery, you need to put a trickle charger on it. If you don't have power available where you are storing the car, take the negative terminal off the battery to keep it from going dead while you are gone.

I have no electrical outlet in my parking stall (see above), so I cannot trickle charge my 12 v. battery. Instead, I disconnected the negative cable. After 6 months, I hope that it will provide enough power to boot the i-MiEV's computers and controllers so that the DC-DC converter will turn on to charge the 12 v. battery from my traction battery pack. I'm not very confident considering that my car sat on the dealer's lot for a year before I bought my i-MiEV in December, 2013. This may have aged the 12 v. battery significantly such that it won't hold a sufficient charge for 6 months. If that happens, I'll have to remove the 12 v. battery and take it to my apartment where I can charge it. That might be a good time to replace the old-school maintenance-required flooded cell OEM battery with a small sealed AGM battery.

 

[PV1]

Will the i-MiEV be anywhere near sunlight? You could invest in a solar trickle charger. Clip the leads onto the battery and sit the solar panel in the sun.

 

[alohart]

Will the i-MiEV be anywhere near sunlight? You could invest in a solar trickle charger. Clip the leads onto the battery and sit the solar panel in the sun.

Good idea, but my parking space in our parking garage has no access to sunlight. I'll be fine.

 

[JoeS]

Art, have a great time in Uppsala (Spring is coming), and now relearn your Insight's stick shift after being spoiled by the i-MiEV.

 

[alohart]

Art, have a great time in Uppsala (Spring is coming), and now relearn your Insight's stick shift after being spoiled by the i-MiEV.

When I last drove my Insight last summer after having driven my i-MiEV for about 6 months, I was amazed how crude it felt driving a car with a stick shift and vibrating, audible engine. My Insight will be my last ICE car.