Anyone thinking of purchasing the new/improved 2014's?

[PV1]

That article is for 2009, but it does have some explanation for why a brand would skip a show.

Mitsubishi is going to be at the Pittsburgh Auto Show, as the David Lawrence Convention Center has them plotted out on the floor plan, which means they've already paid for floor space. Also, the Mitsubishi i Facebook page has the shows listed, which hopefully means the i-MiEV will be present, but they also list Detroit and Chicago, which Archie pointed out that the i-MiEV may not be there.

If a booth wasn't $1,800, I'd set up shop on my own.

 

[AlfredWAB]

I am thinking about buying one of the 2014s and will look at it in person once it arrives for sale here in California.

But only because I'm tired of waiting for the kind of car I really want. I have a Ford Fusion Hybrid, which meets all the range anxiety issues for my family trips, etc. We are very happy with that vehicle which my wife mostly drives. However, I have a 16 mile round-trip commute to make every day and occasionally a bit around town or taking one remaining child at home to music lessons or other stuff. So, we need two vehicles and I'd like to replace my second one with an EV.

What I really want is a "Personal Commute Vehicle", preferably tandem seating, stylish with > 200 MPGe. I really enjoyed the X-Prize competition a few years back. I was actually a deposit holder for a while on the Aptera. But didn't like all the changes the "Big Auto" guys were making to it and got my deposit back. My favorite in the end was the eVaro, but it doesn't look like that will ever get made. So, I'm finally giving up the wait and evaluating what I can actually get as a 2nd vehicle to make my commute in. With the price drop on the iMiev and the Federal & CA incentives, I'm seriously considering the iMiev 2014. It seems like I'll be waiting a long time yet for the kind of vehicle I really want. And >100MPGe at this pricing and feature set might be the best it gets for a while.

 

[JoeS]

AlfredWAB, welcome to the forum. You are not the only one waiting for an EV that is seriously designed with aerodynamics in mind. I, too, was an Aptera depositor, but, as you pointed out, the 'management' imported from Detroit destroyed the company.

The i-MiEV has proven to be a wonderful workhorse suitable for just about every daily need and will certainly do well for your short commute, with your Fusion Hybrid reserved for longer trips. Whereabouts in California are you?

As an aside and sorry for being off-topic, do you know how to get onto the old Aptera website? Way back when I had posted my ideas about regeneration controls that I'd like to access.

 

[AlfredWAB]

I'm in the Sacramento area of California.

I don't know how to get to the old site.
Followed the unofficial Aptera Forum until they took that down.
I saw a post from Neil here though.
He was building his own EV and I was following his progress there.
He might know how to get some of that stuff.

 

[JoeS]

AlfredWAB, if you're ever in the Bay Area and would like to go over the i-MiEV in detail, drop me a PM and I'll be happy to show you mine.

Off-topic, there are two i-MiEV's in Neil Blanchard's family, although he himself doesn't actually own one. He has been keeping us up to date on his CarBEN EV5 project on this forum, in addition to posting on EcoModder.

 

[jsongster]

The included CHAdeMO port makes a huge difference here in the SF BAY Area. There are now chargers available on every major highway route here. from SF to San Jose... from SF to East bay and Contra Costa. From SF to Marin and all the way to Santa Rosa. As far as Sacramento and Calistoga are reachable using the DC QC.

This should make a huge difference for those considering these cars. I am a firm believer in the smaller cars with smaller batteries. Tesla is wonderful but it sure pulls down some juice. I would have needed an expensive update to my home's electrical system to charge one of those in my garage. The iMiev and LEAF tend to sip at the system comparatively.

Mitsubishi would do well to get the AC Level 2 charge rate up to 6.6 or 7.2. So when folks stop at a non CHAdeMO EVSE they can get going sooner.

Wonderful cars to drive... Let's get our world off the gas habit.

Oh and Alfred... SMUD is installing a bunch of CHAdeMOs this year. So for Sacramento the already plentiful downtown Level 2s will be helped by more than simply the Elk Grove and Davis QCs.

 

[jray3]

I am a firm believer in the smaller cars with smaller batteries. Tesla is wonderful but it sure pulls down some juice. I would have needed an expensive update to my home's electrical system to charge one of those in my garage. The iMiev and LEAF tend to sip at the system comparatively.

Mitsubishi would do well to get the AC Level 2 charge rate up to 6.6 or 7.2.

Sorry, I don't follow. One is not compelled to charge at max speed, especially at home. I just chastised a good friend this evening for whining about the difficulty of charging his LEAF and Model S simultaneously at an old house. Oh what a dilemma for a wealthy retiree! (Though I'll predict the emergence of load-sharing dual-handle EVSE for the 2-EV family.)

Assuming one is at home at least 12 hrs per day, that's 10.8 kWh of recharging with our wimpy 8A 120V EVSE (about 42 miles worth of range). A Tesla has excess battery capacity to even out usage spikes and subsist on the smallest EVSE more easily than any other full EV. You could drive 265 miles, arrive home empty, and still cover 40 miles the next morning (and stop off at a supercharger).

I'd certainly prefer 6.6 kW of on board charging capacity, and would use it at home sometimes, but the Tesla can be told how fast to charge, and others can be throttled down with EVSE settings. My L2 SPX can be adjusted between 12 and 30 amps, on 120 or 240V.

 

[Don]

I am a firm believer in the smaller cars with smaller batteries. Tesla is wonderful but it sure pulls down some juice. I would have needed an expensive update to my home's electrical system to charge one of those in my garage. The iMiev and LEAF tend to sip at the system comparatively.

Sorry, I don't follow. One is not compelled to charge at max speed, especially at home. .

I believe the point he's trying to make is that it doesn't make sense to carry around more than you need and I agree - It kills efficiency. I didn't buy a Volt for this same reason. When you see a Volt owner in a commercial who swears he/she hasn't put any gas in their car for the past 3 months, it makes little sense that they're carrying around a gas burning engine and all it's accoutrements

You can drive a compact econobox ICE with an 8 gallon gas tank . . . . or you can drive a Ram 2500 with 36 gallon tank - Hauling around more fuel than you need for the trip you intend to make hurts efficiency

At least with the gas burners, you have the option of not filling the tank all the way and every gallon you leave out saves you 7 pounds of 'cargo' you don't have to tote around. With an EV, you're carrying all that weight whether you fully charge it or not

If your daily round trip commute is 50 or 60 miles, you're toting around a lot of battery in the Tesla that you won't need, day to day

Don

 

[JoeS]

jsongster, your single paragraph convoluted two topics: battery capacity and charging rate.

After talking with many Tesla owners,… uh, leasers, I'm afraid I've managed to rub some of them the wrong way by suggesting the very point you've made: although a few of them have indeed made longer trips, the majority of them just putt around locally, content with emulating their ICE habit of charging once a week or so. What under-utilization of such a huge battery pack! But, they paid for their peace of mind...

Regarding charging rate, as Don pointed out, the Tesla can accommodate and adjust to anything available; however, I wonder what Tesla's formal position is on this? Remember Mitsubishi's insistence on 'inspections' before we early-adopters could get delivery?

jsongster, I'm in total agreement about the main point you made regarding the suitability of the 2014 iMiEV with CHAdeMO for our greater San Francisco Bay Area. The small battery pack fulfills 90% of most people's daily needs, and CHAdeMO adequately satisfies the occasional longer trip charging needs where not enough time is available for L2.

 

[AlfredWAB]

I completely agree with the smaller batteries being better for most of us. 60 miles of range is plenty for my needs and I don't need to pay for more. However, the majority of consumers, try to make the car do everything they might ever need. So, 99% of the time, they are driving a much bigger vehicle with far more power, seating capacity, etc. than they need. All these single drivers on the road with lots of empty seats.

The same argument that is being made for not hauling around the ICE engine in the Volt when you don't really need it, and not hauling around a bigger battery than you need, can be made for not hauling around all the extra seats that you hardly ever use. That's why my favorite vehicle in the X-Prize was the E-Varo. By using tandem seating instead of the side-by-side like the Smart4Two, they can get better aerodynamics and efficiency. I believe they tested at 265 MPGe or so. Unfortunately, the big car industry doesn't think we'd buy those kind of vehicles and they may be right for the population at large. But it is what I really want.

Instead I will be settling for a iMiev with 112 MPGe, hauling around 2 more seats than I need. But still, maybe if enough consumers start buying the best we can get towards a goal instead of waiting for what we really want, just maybe they'll eventually get there. Also, mathematically the additional cost saving diminishes. I expect to save about $120/mo in fuel with the Miev, doubling it's MPGe would only save me another $15/mo. Not another $120. So, this step is significant. And for those times when I do need a truck (currently drive a Ford Ranger), I can rent one and still save money.

 

[Don]

I completely agree with the smaller batteries being better for most of us. 60 miles of range is plenty for my needs and I don't need to pay for more. However, the majority of consumers, try to make the car do everything they might ever need. So, 99% of the time, they are driving a much bigger vehicle with far more power, seating capacity, etc. than they need. All these single drivers on the road with lots of empty seats

Worse yet is our fondness for TRUCKS in the USA - People buy a 1/2 or 3/4 ton pick-up to use for daily commuting, figuring I guess that eventually they're gonna have to haul something, somewhere. You don't see this in Europe

Your average car buyer has no idea how few trips they make of 60 miles or more - We *thought* we knew when we bought the iMiEV and we figured it would be good for 75 to 80% of our needs, but we had no clue how it would turn out - Trickle chargers and Sta-Bil for our ICE's

After nearly 2 years, the only real times I can recall where we thought "Wish we could take the iMiEV" was when we made a local trip with all 3 of the grandkids at once. If you seldom haul passengers, fold the rear seats flat and you have a mini-truck . . . . one with 112 MPHe

Don

 

[gatedad11]

One thing that factors in to the equation for many of us is the effect of the cold weather on their battery and range, and as importantly, the ability to comfortably heat the cabin. It's been a pretty rough winter for us in SE PA, and driving my I-MiEV has been a chore on these cold days. It forces me to choose between comfort and battery reserve. I don't have workplace charging available, nor a QC option. Either of those would have greatly mitigated my problems with the small battery. Yes, I agree fully that many people just don't realize that they only drive a small number of miles per day. However, if I were to run the heater consistently in my car, my 33 miles round trip would basically deplete the battery. Maybe I can get 40+ miles with the heater, but that's about it. I have 16.2 miles to work and the same back. There's just not much room for error. The 2014's with the QC would be a huge improvement for me, same with the upgraded 110V charging cable being able to charge at 12 amps vs 8 amps now.
Lou

 

[AlfredWAB]

Maybe I can get 40+ miles with the heater, but that's about it. I have 16.2 miles to work and the same back. There's just not much room for error.
Lou

I know this is a MiEV forum and I plan to wait until I can test drive the 2014 before making any final decisions, but I'm also quite interested in the Chevy Spark EV. With 20 miles more range and some of the other features I'm reading about, I might decide it is worth the 2k or so extra. Still seems like a pretty affordable car. Oh, wait . . . only available in California and Oregon for now. So, it isn't an option for you yet. I also plan to compare with the Leaf, but that is even more expensive. It would have more range than the MiEV, but less than the Spark.

 

[archie_b]

Just got back from the Chicago Auto Show. Mitsubishi did have a 2014 I-miev on display. Most unusual feature was the matte black exterior. Otherwise not much information available, either printed or from personnel on hand.

Mitsubishi was not the only manufacturer to have an EV on display with little or no information. Kia had the Soul EV on display (locked), no MSRP, no range, just very basic information. Fiat did not even bring their EV to the show (it was there last year), "we're not selling the car in this area so why display it". Chevrolet did not have a Spark EV on display and no one could provide a reason why not. Cadillac had the ELR on display. Beautiful car, truly stunning. But, it is basically a Volt under the body with a price more than double the Volt. No Tesla either.

BMW had both the i3 and i6 on display. Both were locked but I got a rep to open the I3 for a closer look. Very impressive interior, excellent fit and finish. Confirmed with both national and local staff that the I3 will be at BMW dealers in the Chicago area in April.

By far the best EV showing over the past 12 years I have gone to the show. Interesting how some manufacturers put their EV right out front and promote it, others have a single model on display in the back with little or no information, and a few who didn't even bother to bring one along. Mitsubishi was somewhere in the middle. They had the car, some basic information, it was unlocked and available to inspect. It had a rather unusual paint job that I think most potential buyers would deem strange. But it was there and it looked pretty good. I sincerely hope they have these cars on dealers lots by June.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Archie, did you mean the BMW i8; rather than the i6? Also, is the i3 your favorite EV? I am unclear which you are referring to in that paragraph.

 

[archie_b]

Neil:

You are correct, it is the BMW i8. The car I got them to open was the i3, which is significantly different than other EVs on the market. I'll withhold final judgment until I actual get to drive the car in a few months.

When I looked at the Cadillac ELR at the show I signed up for email information. Didn't take Cadillac long to contact me. Here is there introductory lease offer on the ELR:
$699 per month for 39 months
$5,999 due at signing
10,000 miles per year
To be fair the price includes a 240V Bosch charger and installation for the first 1,000 persons to lease the ELR. I'll pass.

There are a lot of new EVs coming to the market in 2014. If you happen to live in states like California or New York you'll be able to purchase any of them. Because I live in Wisconsin some of these cars will most likely never be offered here. With the exception of Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay areas, public charging stations are almost non-existent.

 

[olagon]

Just saw this posted 2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV Makes US Debut at Chicago Auto Show http://insideevs.com/2014-mitsubishi-i-miev-makes-us-debut-at-chicago-auto-show/

 

[Mart]

And once again, Mitsubishi has done nothing...NOTHING...to promote the vehicle. It's not even listed on their booth information. Can't find it in the drop-down menu. Nada. Isn't here. Perhaps it's a "Mirage".
http://www.chicagoautoshow.com/vehicles-on-display/mitsubishi/

It looks like the AC/DC black leather seats in Texas might now be standard or a regular option.

Not sure what the second screen on top is. I hope it was only for the show and not some addition to block visibility.

The external view showing the second display screen on top of the dash. Matte silver?

 

[PV1]

I like those wheels. That Matte silver looks better than Cool Silver Metallic, IMO.

Mitsubishi's website is down, so maybe they are updating it.

I had to buy a replacement wiper blade today, so it's time a new car. :lol: :roll: (Total maintenance/repair costs for nearly 1 year is $15)

 

[greengate]

Is it even for sale in the Chicago area?