New iMiev owner(s)

[JoeS]

One thing it did do was after leaving the first charging station, a relay on the driver's side kept clicking randomly and quickly. Anyone experience this?

That doesn't sound right at all. The only untoward noises I've experienced are those that happen occasionally while driving and accelerating/decelerating while going around a curve over rough surfaces and emanate from a wheel and are associated with ABS/ASC. Is there any correlation of the relay clicking to climate-control settings? Certainly should have nothing to do with the fact that you just finished charging. I would focus on this and gather as much ancillary information as you can. Do keep us up to date on this.

 

[PV1]

It was weird. It seemed to react loosely to whether I was regenning or not, and it stopped after I stopped and my passengers got out before I went to park and plug in. It hasn't done it since they opened the doors. I'll keep you posted if it comes back.

I since made it home with a total driving distance of 76.6 miles, 3 bars, and 9 rr with heat on for the second half of the home stretch. I'm plugged back in for another drive tomorrow. I'm loving every minute of this car. At the second charging location, I saw a Plug-in Prius and Focus Electric, which both cars are even more out of place than the i in my locale.

 

[iDriver]

PV1, Thanks all the updates. I'm very happy for you.

You're bringing back a lot of memories for me of when I first purchased the car and how excited I was. I've had my car since Jan 11th 2012. I might be the first California owner, damn close if not. I've put about 18K miles on it as of today.

I think you're really going to love the car in the Summer as the AC uses MUCH less energy than the heater. . It hardly effects my range, It gets cold fast, keeps me cool the entire time I drive, one of the best features of the car IMO. Until then, I can't stress enough the importance of using the remote to Pre-Heat the car. Not only does this warm the cabin for you, but it also gets the batteries all warmed up, increasing their efficiency and improving your range on cold days. It's fantastic.

Like so many other owners, we purchased the car as a "second" car to use for commuting and running errands around town. We had no intention of making this our primary car. Well, it turned out very differently, we drive the heck out of it and loath the times were we have to go and use that icky gas stuff. I've now come to realize, I'll always own an EV, and that the 2011 Subaru Outback (which I do love) is quite possible the very last ICE i'll ever own. As a matter of fact, I'll probably have the Outback for 20 years, especially considering the i-MiEV is doing a fine job of keeping the mileage low on it.

All said, I have NO regrets about my purchase of the i-MiEV, with the possible exception of not doing the evseupgrade.com thing sooner.

Congrats again on your new car!

 

[aarond12]

My wife's car is our second car, a 2000 Dodge Stratus with 82K miles. (We don't drive much.) I hate driving it now. Not that it's a bad car, because it isn't. Other than some rust on the hood, the car runs perfectly, is easy/cheap to repair, and won't get much additional mileage -- the i-MiEV gets the most usage now.

 

[PV1]

Thank you. I've just turned over 200 miles, nearly all on level 1. The car was warmly accepted at my workplace. I took a couple of guys I work with for a ride, and they really liked the ride and interior space, and were impressed by how quiet and quick it is. There is an EVSE for sale on this forum. I might buy it and have the upgrade done to it so I can charge at 120 volt 8 amp with my current cord, and 12 amps at either voltage with the other. Either that or do an OpenEVSE.

I did cut it close last night. I misjudged how far Pizza Hut was, and drove the last 3 miles with "---" on the RR gauge. Won't do that again, but at least I know I have the reserve. Coasting over half of that distance really helped out.

 

[Don]

I did cut it close last night. I misjudged how far Pizza Hut was, and drove the last 3 miles with "---" on the RR gauge. Won't do that again, but at least I know I have the reserve. Coasting over half of that distance really helped out.

Wow! That didn't take long . . . . in the first 200 miles

We've got right at 7500 miles on ours and the lowest I've ever seen the RR gauge was 4 miles . . . . and that was only after I made several trips around the block trying to get it that low so the gauge would recalibrate

Don

 

[PV1]

Maybe this weekend the car can get a full recharge to calibrate. I don't know the last time it was calibrated, or if it even needs it yet. Today was showing 35 miles on half a charge, so I must be doing something right.

Hopefully I won't see the triple bars again. I've been giving lots of rides, so normal usage won't see this kind of mileage. Then I'll be lucky to hit 200 miles a week.

 

[iDriver]

First thing I did was set out to run my i-MiEV flat out of power. It was just really important to me to know what exactly happened when the "turtle" popped his little head up. How far can i really go? How much of an "emergency" is this? Without this information, I didn't feel quite right with my wife and other loved ones driving the car.

Long story short; as it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Mitsubishi's Range Estimation is very pessimistic. Even after the "- - -" shows up, and the Turtle light turns on, you have MILES ahead of you. Granted, they will be cold/hot uncomfortable miles due to the car automatically turning off the Heating and AC, but it's amazing how far you can make it.

Once you know how far you can go in the car, you just know and you stick to that range. Even gas cars can strand you if you don't take action when the gauge shows "E".

 

[Zelenec]

I pushed Citroen's test car to full discharge last summer. After turtle, it was able to drive another 19,5 km (12 miles) before running out of power. It was really careful eco-driving. With my car I just don't experiment this way, having in mind that full discharge can shorten battery life.

 

[kps70]

Hi, as of 2 days ago, I am the proud new owner of a black 2012 i-miev with 2500 miles on it. Bought for £13500 from a dealer only 5 miles away. I am a teacher from the UK and the kids at school think it is really cool. It's the kind of vehicle most of them will be driving! It had done nothing but rain since we bought it so I have been driving it with the fans, heating, lights and wiper, but it seems to be doing about what the guessometer says. I am planning to start tracking this! I only drive about 20 miles per day and we have a diesel Passat for long journeys. The miev is replacing a 1994 Mercedes s500 v8 with an LPG conversion. I reckon the miev is gonna save me some money as the Mercedes only does about 17 mpg driving around country roads in rural Gloucestershire! In our town, Cheltenham, I have seen another miev and a renault twizy, but that's it for EV's, but this is only the start....hopefully

 

[MLucas]

Hi, as of 2 days ago, I am the proud new owner of a black 2012 i-miev with 2500 miles on it. Bought for £13500 from a dealer only 5 miles away. I am a teacher from the UK and the kids at school think it is really cool. It's the kind of vehicle most of them will be driving! It had done nothing but rain since we bought it so I have been driving it with the fans, heating, lights and wiper, but it seems to be doing about what the guessometer says. I am planning to start tracking this! I only drive about 20 miles per day and we have a diesel Passat for long journeys. The miev is replacing a 1994 Mercedes s500 v8 with an LPG conversion. I reckon the miev is gonna save me some money as the Mercedes only does about 17 mpg driving around country roads in rural Gloucestershire! In our town, Cheltenham, I have seen another miev and a renault twizy, but that's it for EV's, but this is only the start....hopefully

Congratulations. I like the black too.

 

[PV1]

Now, to win over your naysaying family members...

They're warming up to it. I washed it today, and they liked how the paint has the metallic pearl in it. They like it. Saved $100 in gas in the 533 miles I put on it.

I actually had to drive the other car today just to loosen everything up from sitting. The brakes were rusted together when I went to move, just goes to show how much faster rust develops with a layer of salt.

Congrats on your new i.

 

[JoeS]

Now, to win over your naysaying family members...

They're warming up to it. I washed it today, and they liked how the paint has the metallic pearl in it. They like it. Saved $100 in gas in the 533 miles I put on it

Good start. When you let them drive it, be sure they keep it in either D or B so they experience the proper acceleration without having to stomp hard.

 

[nsps]

I just took home my raspberry SE (premium/quick-charge). Still need to get used to all the driving modes, but I'm loving it!

 

[MLucas]

I just took home my raspberry SE (premium/quick-charge). Still need to get used to all the driving modes, but I'm loving it!

Congratulations. Where are you posting from? Update your profile - it helps us to answer your questions.

 

[sandange]

Welcome to the group to the new owners

I guess you all are asking yourselves , what did I get into . Congratulatons, you have yourselves a great practical, little economical EV
We also took a leap of faith in the beginning and now after having experienced the car for over 22,000 KM , ( 13,670 km )
we are very satisfied with the Miev.
Being a first time EV owner we have had a learning curve and adapted to the EV driving experience.

The biggest fear at first was the Range anxiety , but that gets old fast as you drive your regular daily errands, chores and know what to expect.

 

[nsps]

I'm in Salt Lake City, Utah. We had a lot of snow this year, so I guess in 9 months I'll find out how this car handles in cold winter weather. I have a '95 Subaru Legacy Outback with a lot of miles on it that isn't worth much, so I'll probably hold onto that for long-distance emergencies.

 

[MLucas]

I'm in Salt Lake City, Utah. We had a lot of snow this year, so I guess in 9 months I'll find out how this car handles in cold winter weather. I have a '95 Subaru Legacy Outback with a lot of miles on it that isn't worth much, so I'll probably hold onto that for long-distance emergencies.

I was interested to see how the i-MiEV would take to winter and after going through my first winter with my car, I have to say it does really well. Yes, the cold does affect the range by at least 10%. Preheating, limited or no use of the heater while driving and opportunity charging at work have all helped out a lot. I also insulated my doors and my heater pack which I also think helped a great deal. I did not use snow tires at all and the car did well in all road conditions even ice and deep snow. I could drive confidently down the QEW (expressway) in the unplowed fast lane passing slow going front wheel drive cars. It just takes one drive to get the confidence that the ASC really works on this car and you'll have a blast driving it in winter.

How long is your commute and can you charge at work?

 

[nsps]

My commute is 15 freeway miles from my house. And then if I eat lunch out of the office it's 5 miles both ways. So a general max of 40 miles on the commute, but many days it'll just be 30. I am not sure if I'll be able to charge at work.

This morning I just drove it on the freeway for the first time since my test drive and it handled really well. (I picked it up Friday night and have only had to do city driving.) I was a little surprised that, after getting up to speed, it was able to keep in the green for a good part of the drive while going in the high 60s and 70s. This really is a fun car to drive. I think I'll still have half a charge when I get home tonight.

One thing that didn't seem to do much is the pre-heating. Maybe I started it to early and it stopped before I got in the car? I started at 7:45 and got in the car at 8:10 so it should have still been going I think. It's still cold out here at night and in the morning, but not super-cold, so I'm worried about hot well it'll heat up when it is super-cold.

 

[danpatgal]

One thing that didn't seem to do much is the pre-heating. Maybe I started it to early and it stopped before I got in the car? I started at 7:45 and got in the car at 8:10 so it should have still been going I think. It's still cold out here at night and in the morning, but not super-cold, so I'm worried about hot well it'll heat up when it is super-cold.

It helps (maybe even necessary) to have the heat turned on and fan at least at medium before you do the pre-heat. I've always found the preheat (here in Pennsylvania) to be very warm after only 10-15 minutes, so much so that it get's a little too warm and my wife has to put the windows down.

Congratulations on the car in SLC ... having grown up there (Sandy, to be precise) I've always wondered how an EV will do in such a hilly area. I suspect the iMiev better than others because it has such a strong regenerative drive mode (B). Have fun with it!

Dan