First Modern EV To Be Taken Seriously

[JoeS]

As many of us suffered through the terrible (and unwarranted) reviews in the early days by automotive 'experts', it's interesting to find a fair number of articles out there that now wax nostalgic about our i-MiEVs. Here's just one example -

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...t-modern-ev-to-be-taken-seriously-184016.html

 

[Albert850i]

Very interesting:
In the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Mitsubishi fast-tracked the release of the MiEV Power Box. A device that enabled i-MiEVs to connect to a family home's electrical grid to provide power to home electric appliances in the event of a power outage.

Want to have such a power box..

 

[dopey]

As a new owner, I-Miev has aged well. I had a Tesla Model 3 as a work vehicle, but after changing jobs a work vehicle was not included.

Ended up buying an 04 volvo s60r as a 'fun' car. But fairly quickly had the desire to have an electric car again -- for errands, short trips, etc and use the volvo for longer trips.

My research more/less led me to;
1.) I-Miev/Trio
2.) Zoe
3.) Leaf

I do think the optimal configuration is an early Zoe -- type2 built in, larger battery, etc. But the cost of a Zoe in Sweden went up to around 130-160k SEK (13-16k USD), and would still have a 'batterihyra' aka lease on the battery of about 100 a month.

The Leaf, as I understood, early ones did not have active cooling causing larger degradation in battery pack over time. If you could get lucky and find an old but recently warranty replaced battery. They were also going 120k+ SEK.

I-Miev/Trio had active cooling making it more likely to have a longer life. I ended up finding mine for 55k SEK .

It's a perfect run about car, and I suspect will last for many more years.

The main downside i'd say is the smaller community given the smaller volumes(I assume?). On an aging vehicle of any type, having one with a large following makes it allot easier to DIY repair, add nice-to-haves, etc.

 

[jray3]

Good on ya dopey, for buying the longest-lasting affordable EV. Here's a couple of additional details and clarifications. No LEAF has EVer had any kind of a cooling system, including the current 62 kWH battery. I've dissected all of them. Even the claims of passive cooling are malarkey, as the pack is insulated by a plastic shield below, and there's no effort to circulate air around the steel box.

The i-MiEV battery lasts longer not just because it is air-conditioned and heated, but it uses the much more durable and less environmentally and socially damaging LiFePO4 chemistry, and Mitsubishi runs that battery conservatively, choosing voltage setpoints for longevity rather than squeezing in a few more km of claimed autonomy.

Lastly, there's a quality rebuild and capacity upgrade available now for i-MiEV batteries, and the LEAF isn't quite there yet on rebuild compatibility either, due to their multiple BMS and firmware versions. The https://www.ozelectricvehicles.com/upgrades does rely on the more energy dense NCM chemistry in order to pack nearly 30 kwh into the original 16 kWh case, but those cells should last longer with the i-MiEV's active cooling.

Also, Mitsubishi did the right thing for USA customers and warranted the design deficiency in our onboard battery chargers for 10 years and 100,000 miles. Our other 2012 model is due to be returned from the dealer tomorrow with a brand new battery charger!

 

[coulomb]

Here's a couple of additional details and clarifications. ...
The i-MiEV battery lasts longer not just because it is air-conditioned and heated, but it uses the much more durable and less environmentally and socially damaging LiFePO₄ chemistry, and ...

Actually, LFP (LiFePO₄) is a 3.2 V (nominal) chemistry; the LMO or whatever (most) iMiEV cells are has a 3.75 V nominal voltage:

https://pushevs.com/2015/11/04/gs-yuasa-improved-cells-lev50-vs-lev50n/

Perhaps some models used LFP? I know a few Japanese made iMiEVs had LTO chemistry. Even lower energy density, but far greater life again. (Edit: Both features are due to the even lower nominal cell voltage of 2.4 V).

 

[pbui19]

The https://www.ozelectricvehicles.com/upgrades does rely on the more energy dense NCM chemistry in order to pack nearly 30 kwh into the original 16 kWh case, but those cells should last longer with the i-MiEV's active cooling.

any one know if ozelectric also upgrade the BMS ? NCM and LFP has slightly different cut-off voltage

 

[coulomb]

any one know if ozelectric also upgrade the BMS ?

They have a device that alters certain CAN bus messages. Similarly to how LEAFs need a device to alter certain CAN bus messages.

NCM and LFP has slightly different cut-off voltage

That pair of chemistries are vastly different. The cells that they are using (NMC) are fairly similar to the originals (LMO), but not similar enough to get away without the CAN bus messages being modified.

I was originally asked to find a way to spoof the cell voltage so that this CAN bus fiddling would not be required. But that was rejected. Here I post a comparison of the two voltage versus SOC graphs:

https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?p=81308#p81308

Edit: The above is one post of a huge topic. You can read further if you're interested in more details, but set aside some time to wade through it all.