Advice for Extended Test Drive

[azemon]

Hello,

I have been reading a bunch on this forum. Between what I have read here and two short test drives, I am seriously considering buying an i-MiEV. I like this car. The dealer let me borrow his demo car until tomorrow afternoon. Is there anything in particular that you suggest I check out?

So far, my only complaint is that I wish it had more front seat leg room.

On the plus side, the i looks great sitting in the driveway next to our Fiat 500!

Thanks,
-- Art Z.

 

[JoeS]

Hi Art,

You've come to the right place. Just a few random pointers...

Note the huge cargo space and flat floor with the back seats down: not only is the height and width maximized, but the volume of 50.4cuft is certainly better than the Leaf's (24cuft) or the normal Fiat's (30.1).

You'll quickly get used to the silence and find ICE vehicles obtrusively noisy. Play with the "shift" lever to see how you can slow down using the three-level regeneration - to me this was a big selling point.

Handling you'll find to be just fine, but first may I suggest you check the tire pressure (maybe go up a few psi). You'll note that it's turning radius is almost identical to your smaller Fiat's: 30.8ft vs your Fiat's 30.6ft (Fiat Abarth is 37.6ft)

Yes, it could have a little bit more leg room but the driver's seat height is adjustable and may help a bit.

The other negative are the oversized headrests, but in my case I usually drive with the back seats down and the passenger's headrest is easily removed so it doesn't matter much.

Note how easy it is get in and out of.

Just go drive it for a day, and it'll sell itself. Plug it in overnight and you'll have a "full tank" in the morning - priceless! One really gets to despise gas stations after driving electric...

Have fun!

 

[azemon]

Thanks, Joe. The car was the hit at the Chamber of Commerce technology committee planning meeting this afternoon. We all geeked out thoroughly and two other people drove it. This evening, my son drove it and then four of us piled in and went to dinner. So far, it's a delight to drive.

Since the Fiat and the Mitsu are close to the same size, I was surprised how much more the Mitsu gets buffeted by wind. (The Fiat is rock solid.) I guess being 800 lbs lighter has a lot to do with it. Performance is just fine, though. Sometimes I horse the Fiat around but for normal driving (like with my wife in the car), the Mitsu works great even without flooring the pedal.

Tomorrow we are going to try a short highway trip and have some errands planned.

I laughed out loud at the form that I had to sign at the dealer to take the car out overnight. It had a clause stipulating that I am responsible for all fuel.

-- Art Z.

 

[danpatgal]

Since the Fiat and the Mitsu are close to the same size, I was surprised how much more the Mitsu gets buffeted by wind.

After a 16 months and 11K+ miles, this is the only negative I can think of with the car. I thought the iMiev was significantly taller than a Fiat 500, but it's only 3 inches taller, so that shouldn't be a big deal, maybe it's just the shape. But, the shape does make it easy to get into and out of, and that's a pretty nice trade-off for the occasional wind-buffeting.

 

[azemon]

So y'all won't be surprised to learn that my wife and I decided to by an i-MiEV. The dealer is trying to locate one close to St. Louis that is an SE with the cold zone package and nothing else, or as few other options as possible. (The cold zone package is what get's me the ability to pre-warm and pre-cool the interior of the car, right?)

They let me have their demo car for the rest of the weekend so I have been continuing to enjoy it. I'm already grinning as I drive past gas stations. And I am already planning to build either a JuiceBox or an OpenEVSE.

Cheers,
-- Art Z.

 

[JoeS]

Art, glad you liked the iMiEV!

The 'cold zone' package merely provides the ducting of the warm air from the passenger compartment into and through the battery compartment. It has to be seriously cold (<-15degC) for it to do anything, although some of our Canadian owners may wish to chime in on this one. The good news is that this ducting will enable refrigerated cabin air to flow through the batteries during summer - here's the thread discussing this: Passive Cooling

If you can't get this cold zone package, don't worry about it as the Remote-controlled pre-heating and pre-cooling as well as the heated driver's seat are standard equipment on all iMiEVs.

 

[azemon]

JoeS,

Thank you! You just made my car search much easier!! I thought that I needed the cold weather package. Any SE will suit me, then.

Cheers,
-- Art Z.

 

[aarond12]

Post pictures of your new baby here after you get her. We all love baby pictures.