2013 Mitsubishi I Suggestions

[imeev]

I'm still perplexed by the idea of the $2700 nav package though - I'd expect to see something like that in a Lexus, but not in an around town commuter car with a range of 75 or 80 miles. My dealer said 'maybe it makes sense if you live in Los Angeles'. I don't see any way I can get lost here within 40 miles of home.

Don

If they are going to have such an expensive nav system, it should definitely be optimized for an EV. Instead it has gas stations listed as a POI. One of the main reasons anyone would get the nav would be to find EVSE's.

 

[dakine]

Change the shifter and its pedestal out for buttons on the dash and call it even.

Yes, I agree. Or maybe paddles on the steering wheel.

 

[Kei Jidosha]

Here's a list of all the things that I thought should be improved for the 2013 I-Miev..

And mine;

1) 6.6kw Charger.
2) 20kWh Battery
3) Cruise Control

3kW charger was a concession to unified iMiEV production. The i is a North American product which should follow the 6.6kW public charging standard. When the iMiEV was fattened up for the US market, the battery needed to increase to compensate for the increased weight/drag so as to retain the EU/JAL LEAF/Focus/Fit EV equivalent range. Never too late to fix that error. Cruise control helps eliminate foot fatigue in "B " mode.

List will only achieve utility parity with Honda Fit EV. It has to happen.

 

[mievsolar]

Agreed

A 6.6 Kw charger is a piece of cake. No brainer. But really the 3.3 is not that bad and i f you do not take your batteries all the way flat each day I find that 120V charging is fine.

One other thing to add is on the 2013 models adapt the J772 universal plug that will charge 120 V, 240V and DC fast charge. I looked at the plug recently and it looks great. It may be a while till you can use the DC fast charge but it will be coming sooner than later. That sure would be a hoot to plug your EV into a DC fast charge and in say 15 minutes add 50 like range to your vehicle.

Someday soon " range anxiety" will be a thing of the past. The key to that is either battery pack swapping (A better place ) or simply DC fast charging. I am betting on the connivence of DC fast charging. I envision charging stations at movie theaters, restaurants, libraries, any place where you spend more then 30 minutes at a time. I think the battery pack swamping is a great idea, but I am not so sure it is taking hold. It seems to me the Better Place idea is not catching on very well. And then if wireless charging comes along and no more plugs are needed then the game changes. All the plug stations get changed to wireless, but I don't see that happening for at least 10 years. The plug in will rule for at least 5-10 years. In 10 years maybe all battery packs will be standardized and you can swap all day long, but somehow I do not see that happening. Standardizing a battery pack screws with the ability to design cars. That i s to restrictive.

 

[Don]

When the iMiEV was fattened up for the US market, the battery needed to increase to compensate for the increased weight/drag so as to retain the EU/JAL LEAF/Focus/Fit EV equivalent range

I was reading the specs on the car as sold in New Zealand (which I believe is the same, smaller body as sold in Europe and Japan) and the only differences in this regard that I saw were the slightly lighter vehicle weight and the transmission gearing - Ours is about 7 to 1 and theirs is 6 to 1. Same 66 HP motor, same 16 Kw battery

http://www.mmnz.co.nz/imiev/options-and-pricing/specs/

I also read that the EV version with 66 HP is actually 12 Hp more powerful than the turbocharged 3 cylinder 1 liter gas version sold in Japan

Don

 

[iMiEVNZ7]

HI Don,
I am not too technical in mind, so I could be wrong, but if the USA version is 7 : 1 wouldn't the NZ version though listed as 6 : nearly 070 then if school maths work still... to get the 070 to 1.0 I need to add 0.3 then I need to add 3 to the first figure ?

That would make it 9 : 1 ?

Another things is, if the final drive ratio makes a difference, would it help to have a gearbox even a two stage one or an auto box..?.

The homebrew electric car people often leave the gear box in and use second. First for steep hills.

Feel free to point out the error in my calculations as I am not sure.

 

[Don]

I think the gear ratios are simple enough - On our car, the axle shaft turns one time for every 7 revolutions of the motor armature, the smaller lighter Eurospec cars use 6 to 1

You cannot compare what we have to the 'homebrew' cars using second gear in their manual transmissions because those are driven with DC motors which have brushes and windings on their armatures. DC motors are limited to around 5,000 RPM because any faster than that and you begin throwing the windings off the armature and there are also efficiency issues caused by the brushes. Our cars use AC motors with permanent magnet armatures, so no windings and no brushes. At 80 MPH, our motors are turning nearly 10,000 RPM which would be impossible with a DC motor. Our motors are also about half the weight of the DC motors

Some good reading on the car's drive system can be found here: http://media.mitsubishicars.com/releases/4eed9646-06be-4ff9-bc3c-7ea4ee8d9942/print

Don

 

[koolmits]

Automatic dimming mirrors (All)
Vehicle warning system that resides in the rear of the vehicle and activates when reverse gear is used .
Rear seat headrest need to be integrated into the seat , so that rear seats can fold down without removing the headrest or moving the front seats forward .
Sunglass holder in headliner.
Vanity mirror on passenger side

Ralliart dampers .....Hello...The MIEV could stand to be lowered 1.5-2.0 inches
Different wheel colors . In Gold and/or black with matching emblems . Maybe a little more "sportier" design wheels .
Aluminum lug nuts

Redesign dash ...6-8 inches could easily be removed from dash ... creating more room ...
Gear indicator that lights up instead of paint (shifter column)

 

[jennrod12]

Koolmits,

by vehicle warning system when reverse is engaged, do you mean a backup beeper? I once found a light bulb with a beeper integrated that replaced the standard backup light bulb in one of the taillights for my volvo, so I had a backup beeper. (I did that when we had a lot of small kids in the neighborhood.)

Jenn

 

[NeilBlanchard]

I would ask for several aerodynamic drag improvements:

A smooth belly pan that covers the entire underside.

Optional smooth and flat wheel covers.

Crisp tapering rear edges (aka a Kamm back) -- this is critical for clean(er) air flow off the back, which is where most of the drag comes from.

Optional rear wheel skirts -- these can be clear/smoked so they don't visually distract, or maybe making them black or body colored would help?

Low profile "all-season" wiper blades -- these are much better for those of us with snow and ice in the winter, as well. The front of the i MiEV likely has drag contributed by the wipers; whereas on most cars they are in a still pocket of higher pressure air.

Rear wheel strakes -- these are wedges ahead and behind the rear wheels that help the air flow be smoother. These can be integrated in the rear Kamm back.

The Cd is currently 0.35 (if I an not mistaken) and getting this down to 0.30 or 0.29 or less could add 20-40+ miles to the range. Really.

++++

Driver adjustable regenerative braking from free-wheel coasting to maximum; in at least the Eco mode.

++++

Minor nits:

Rear speakers should be standard.

The front fender marker lights should also be turn signals.

Optional LED headlights.

Heated seats rather than a heated cabin.

Instant electric defroster on the windshield.

 

[koolmits]

Jenn , yes the vehicle warning system is engaged when in reverse , but the sound eminates from the front of the car . Yes a beeper would be perfect .

 

[SteveB]

I'll add:

Allow the ability to see both trip distance and Range Remaining at the same time.

Jenn

This would be nice. My Toyota Hybrid has this feature.
Another big improvement would be to put the button that cycles through the displays on the radio or center console. I don't know how many times I have bumped the wiper lever reaching to push the button on the instrument cluster. It's so awkward.

Steve

 

[Ozimiev]

Is it just me not getting my act together or do other people have to open the car door again after closing, or sometimes locking it and having to unlock again, to operate the charge door release ?
OK, I should operate the release before I get out.

So here is a thought Mitsubishi.... a release for the charger door in the boot or something that releases the door if the J1772 plug is bought near the door ? Or just have the vehicle read my mind.... maybe not a good idea for road safety. :roll:

Re: range remaining display.
I don't use it.
If it was for next 24km not last 24km it would be useful.
I prefer to look at battery meter 16 x 1kWh blocks and think 1kWh will take me 10km city or 5km on freeway.
Perhaps that means a display that showed a couple of predictions of range or range at various speeds would be useful ?
I bet they spend many a heated discussion before settling on the existing range display !

 

[Don]

Re: range remaining display.
I don't use it.
If it was for next 24km not last 24km it would be useful.
I prefer to look at battery meter 16 x 1kWh blocks and think 1kWh will take me 10km city or 5km on freeway.
Perhaps that means a display that showed a couple of predictions of range or range at various speeds would be useful ?
I bet they spend many a heated discussion before settling on the existing range display !

Actually, it is telling you what's going to happen in the next 24 kms by using energy consumption data based on whatever you're doing right now. If you speed up, the remaining range is automatically adjusted down to reflect that - Same thing if you turn on the A/C or the heater, or even the headlights or the wipers. The RR number is constantly being adjusted for whatever you're doing so it's very accurate and will warn you well ahead of time that if you need to go 75 kms to get home, maybe you better either slow down or turn off the A/C if you expect to make it

If you don't believe it, try this. Turn on the RR display and then drive 100 or 110 kms for about 5 or 10 kms while checking the display. Then, slow down to 40 or 50 kms and keep an eye on the RR display and you will actually see the number increasing as you continue to drive. The RR dial is doing *exactly* what you wished it would do in your post above - Giving you an accurate range predicition for whatever speed you're driving and whatever accessory power you're using

It's easily the best feature on the car for this. You're missing out by not using it and *one day* you may not make it back home by trying to depend on your very crude 'times five or ten' figure

I usually (but not always) open the charge port door before I exit the car and I've never experienced the problem that you're describing . . . . maybe it's something that only affects RHD cars??

Don

 

[Ozimiev]

Yes but Don you summed it up perfectly...... RR is based on your last 24km (as per the handbook).
It is NOT able to crystal ball your next leg of the journey (well obviously) unless it is more of the same.
You're right. The RR is good to tell you that if you have 50km to go and only 25km showing on the RR then you can't drive like you have been over the last 24km. Well maybe, maybe not. If the last 24km was freeway and I've pulled into the suburbs then all's sweet.
The driver has to apply their own correction to the RR number.

Consider I'm about to pull on the freeway. A last glance at the instruments to see I'm good to go.
The RR will not be the number I will take most notice of. It may say there is 100km range but nope I'll call it 50km.
The idea of an instrument that reads 50% out is not good for EV sales !

By considering the total kWh available and total journey requirements you can set forth and not spend all your time studying the RR number as it changes and feeds the range anxiety.

I'm not complaining about the RR system. Just telling saying that where I hear folk getting into trouble is when thay think the RR has real look forward capability.

 

[tonymil]

Yes but Don you summed it up perfectly...... RR is based on your last 24km (as per the handbook).
It is NOT able to crystal ball your next leg of the journey (well obviously) unless it is more of the same...

I think you're both right, you need to look at the RR and the bars remaining, and I would throw in the miles already driven (assuming you reset one of the trip meters after every charge). For example, if the car shows 30 miles traveled, 50 miles RR and 10 bars left, you know that car has been driven very lightly and if you continue to drive it lightly, you'll get the full 50 miles RR or close to it. On the other hand, if it shows 40 miles traveled, 20 miles remaining and 6 bars left, it's been driven kind of rough and driving it lightly should get you more than the 20 miles RR. That's why so many of us would like to be able to see both RR and miles traveled at the same time.

 

[Ozimiev]

I guess technology will be its own answer.

Battery packs will improve in capacity so more range anyway.

.... and some software junkies will take proposed NAV system route including traffic and speeds for route, battery pack level etc and produce a range number from that 'cause the existing RR has no look ahead ability.

 

[Don]

Yes but Don you summed it up perfectly...... RR is based on your last 24km (as per the handbook).

Cars in Oz must be different. Our owners manual makes no mention of any distance (either miles or Kms) and I know from personal use that the RR calculated number doesn't need anywhere near 24 Kms to update to a new prediction - It's much more recent than that. I know if I drive 50 mph for 3 or 4 miles and then cut my speed in half, the gauge begins readjusting the number almost immediately . . . . another 3 or 4 miles and I have a larger number than I did when I was driving 50. 24Kms is 15 miles and having driven only 6 or 8 miles total, I have completely new predictions

In addition, turning the A/C either on or off gives an instant new number

I don't see how your multiplying the battery bars times 5 or 10 could give you anywhere near as accurate a 'guesstimate' of your remaining range as just trusting the meter does

We don't charge the car very often, so we leave home many times with only 20 or 30 or 40 miles remaining on the meter and we trust that to get us back home pretty religiously and it's never let us down

Don

 

[tonymil]

Cars in Oz must be different...Don

That's very funny Don. I think this topic deserves its own thread so we can see if there's some consensus, so I'm going to take the liberty of setting one up.

Tony

 

[PV1]

I have a suggestion for the 2013 model...ADVERTISEMENT. I stopped at a dealer yesterday, and he was sayin they have heard nothing about the 2013 model. If any changes are going to be made, it's going to be the 2014 or 2015 model. They need sales, and I suggested to make commercials and ads. On a good note, he said the car performs very well in the hilly state of WV, getting between 75 and 90 miles range.