Buying and i-Miev in Australia - different screen/radio

[bindi]

Hi,

I am looking at buying an I-miev over the next few days!!!!! It is a lifelong dream of mine to have an electric car and not use fossil fuel to drive (we have solar panels). Sooooo excited. The price has finally dropped to a point where I can afford them.

I am in Australia, and I have noticed that there are two different central stacks available in them. In one type it has a small LCD screen. In the other type it is a radio, CD player, USB input and call buttons.

What is the difference between the two? Is one better than the other?? Does the LCD one adversely affect battery power? Do they both have Bluetooth? Can I stream bluetooth audio? How about Bluetooth for calls??

If you had the choice which one would you go for?

Thanks guys and hope to join you guys as an I-miev owner ASAP!!!

Regards,
Belinda

 

[WyVern]

Hi bindi and welcome!

I'm also an Aussie iMiever, I can tell you it is gonna be a whole new experience punting around in a funky silent runabout

The stereos both have Bluetooth functionality and can stream audio. The large LCD screen is for the sat nav, which by all accounts is not quite up to the standard you'd get in a 3rd party Garmin or TomTom. You won't notice any difference in battery usage. I have the non LCD version and find it works well with my iPhone.

If your dealer has the LCD version, great, but don't go paying extra for it as it is not really worth it. Also, make sure you drive a hard bargain as a lot of these cars have been on the forecourts in Australia for 18 months now so either push them on price or on favourable finance.

This is a great forum for support and chat, if you have any other questions just ask!

 

[PeterC]

Also in Australia. I just got one as did a couple of friends so now there are three more on the road in Canberra. I agree with the previous comment about the LCD display. Nice to have but the other would work. The prices paid have been from A$22-25K for the three I know about. There are two under $20K for the current model but around 20,000km on Carsales.com.au. Certainly some bargains to be had. Also, getting the car sent to you on a trailer is not so expensive.

 

[PeterC]

...It is a lifelong dream of mine to have an electric car and not use fossil fuel to drive (we have solar panels)…./quote]
Hi,
That is great. I always try to emphasise that running a car on renewable power is the whole point.
However, did you, as most did, trade in your 'STC's or 'REC's for a discount on the cost of the solar panels? If so, what you have in effect done is 1) invested some of your own money into increasing the amount of renewable generation - great!, 2) enabled an electricity retailer to purchase those STC/RECs and claim that as part of their obligation to purchase renewable power as part of the national Renewable Energy Target. - not so great since you can't also claim the green power they are making. 3) reduced your electricity costs - entirely reasonable thing to do.

Don't worry. I did the same thing when I got solar PV panels before I understood how the accounting for green power works. Fortunately there is a way to purchase Greenpower that is cheaper than through the electricity retailers and tax-deductible. It is just being set up now but get in touch if you want to know more about it. I will be stopping my green power purchase from my retailer soon and instead getting the green component through this alternative route.

Cheers,
Peter (in Canberra)

 

[WyVern]

Not sure about the Canberra structure but here in Qld the solar panels are set up so that your home makes use of the solar first, any overflow is what gets sold back to the grid as green electricity.

If you genuinely want to run the car as a non-fossil fuel vehicle the most direct route is probably to charge during the day using this power.

Personally I'd charge off a dirty diesel generator if it were free, I am happy with simply not purchasing fuel and am looking forward to the reduced maintenance for a low use second vehicle

 

[JoeS]

... I am happy with simply not purchasing fuel and am looking forward to the reduced maintenance for a low use second vehicle

WyVern, PerterC, and bindi: if you're like many of us, the i-MiEV quickly becomes the PRIMARY vehicle in the family, with the ICE car reserved (or rented/hired) only for long trips. :mrgreen:

 

[PeterC]

Not sure about the Canberra structure but here in Qld the solar panels are set up so that your home makes use of the solar first, any overflow is what gets sold back to the grid as green electricity.

You are sort of right but it is not the full story.
Yes, you would be on a 'net' tariff. That is, you attempt to self-consume first, thereby saving yourself the retail price for the electricity you would otherwise have had to buy. That is how it is for new installations in Canberra as well. Then, you are paid for the excess that goes into the grid but that is not the source of accredited GreenPower (http://www.greenpower.gov.au) that retailers can sell. Actually all your production from your system has most likely been counted already as green power and more likely that not already sold for someone else, most likely a retailer, to count towards the renewable energy target.
For a retailer to sell GreenPower they have to purchase and surrender Renewable Energy Certificates. For large generators such as a commercial wind farm one REC is created for every MWh of electricity they have actually exported to the grid. They get the certificate on top of whatever the going price is for wholesale electricity from any source at that moment.
For small generators such as roof top solar the system is deemed to produce a certain number of MWhs over 15 years and these are provided once up front when the system is installed. Those small scale RECs are usually signed over to the installer who then sells them and gives you a discount. The amount that the small system is deemed to produce is independent of whether you end up mainly using or exporting your power.
To reach the federal government's Renewable Energy Target electricity retailers are required to purchase and surrender RECs representing a certain percentage of their total sales, mainly large scale RECs but also some small scale RECs (I can't recall the ratio required).
If a retailer sells you (say) '100% GreenPower' rather than ordinary electricity with the mandated percentage (presently around 8-9% from memory, going to at least 20% by 2020), the retailer has to purchase and surrender additional RECs, enough to match your consumption, over and above the mandated amount.
I hope that makes sense. It is actually a reasonable system and I have confidence in the accounting and auditing of it but most people don't understand how it works.

 

[WyVern]

JoeS - I can vouch for that. My wife and I originally considered a Leaf but it was a little too expensive and there were reports of battery issues. I summed up that I could instead replace our older second car with an imiev for the same price as our fuel and maintenance budget for that car. However, once my wife drove the imiev she declared it hers as she does the majority of our weekly mileage and she was taken with the ease of driving and manoeuvring it.
It has now done 7000km in 5 months whereas our CRV "primary" car has done around 2500!
...so much for being a second car!