New Owner In Albuquerque NM

[Aerowhatt]

Congrats Aerowhatt! I'd like to get my wife one too but she still likes her worn out, 2003 suv gas guzzler. She has driven my i-miev a few times and to me, that's progress but I can't say anything. Only encourage her without looking like I'm "trying".

Thank you much! I do feel like I won something. Encouraging without being obvious was my modus operandi as well. If you talk someone into something then you get responsibility for any negative outcomes, deserved or not. Another thing I did was often and honestly rave about how much I was enjoying the iMiEV experience.

I'm going to pull the insurance on her 2013 Honda Fit and store it. We can keep the registration active with a "not driving it" affidavit filed with the state. Good insurance for any negative fallout which I don't expect to materialize. Then if the need arrises it can be reinsured in 24 hours. I'll wait until she suggests that it should be sold due to taking up space and depreciation. CMA if you will.

Now I need to figure out how to have her charging as convenient as mine is. Her charge port will be in the middle of a two car garage with a single wide door. So any ideas would be welcome. Except for backing in (which of course would work great if I didn't care about keeping the side mirrors attached to the car) :roll:

Aerowhatt

 

[Aerowhatt]

Her charge port will be in the middle of a two car garage with a single 16 ft wide door.

I would like to have the nozzle right there by the charge port on the right side of the car (middle of the garage) so that there is no cord handling etc. to plug the car in. It would be a piece of cake to suspend it there, if not for the garage door rolling up in between the car and the ceiling. I have a couple of ideas how to accomplish this but don't want to sway the pool of creativity here on the board. So those of you handy and creative how would you go about suspending the charge nozzle from above the charge port when you can't use the ceiling over the car to do so??? The EVSE can go next to the garage door on the left side of her new car. So just the cord and nozzle need to reach the right side and reside there full time ready to reach up and pull down into the charge port. :idea: :?:

Aerowhatt

 

[JoeS]

...I would like to have the nozzle right there by the charge port on the right side of the car (middle of the garage) so that there is no cord handling etc. to plug the car in. It would be a piece of cake to suspend it there...

Have a similar situation. My original EVSE is located just inside the right entrance into the garage right next to the i-MiEV charge door s.t. driving straight in close to the right wall results in a cord length of about 3'. No problem, and wife (who still loves her i-MiEV despite the Tesla) uses that side. My i-MiEV I back into the garage, leaving a good gap between us with no car-door interference and the aft end of the car is beyond the reach of the garage door overhead. I've temporarily clamped my EVSEUpgrade.com EVSE and timer to a small stepladder with the power input cord on the ground going to a beautifully-situated 240vac50A outlet on the wall opposite the other EVSE (that I put in when I built the house in 1977 already anticipating an EV but I called it a welder outlet).

Anyway, Aerowhatt, an overhead EVSE installation is mulling over in my mind, but without the garage door obstruction that you have - uh, why not back in yourself and have your wife use the one on the right side going in?

To answer your question, looks like a few of us multi-iMiEV owners need to get our creative juices flowing to come up with a nice concept before bending any conduit... At the moment, I'm afraid I have other priorities but as they develop I will share my thoughts either here or in a PM.

 

[pbui19]

I have a couple of bicycle hooks mounted from the garage ceiling near each vehicle charge port. It's pretty easy to coil up the cord to hang up. I want to make it easier for my wife to charge, so I tend to leave the L2 cord hung up near her charge port.

I also hung up the iMiev L1 stock charger so both EVs can get charge simultaneously. My wife usually seems more pressed for time, while I poke around more from her point of view. An un-anticipated bonus with hanging the cords up is that they stay clean, plus no tripping.

 

[Aerowhatt]

I have a couple of bicycle hooks mounted from the garage ceiling near each vehicle charge port. It's pretty easy to coil up the cord to hang up. I want to make it easier for my wife to charge, so I tend to leave the L2 cord hung up near her charge port.

I also hung up the iMiev L1 stock charger so both EVs can get charge simultaneously. My wife usually seems more pressed for time, while I poke around more from her point of view. An un-anticipated bonus with hanging the cords up is that they stay clean, plus no tripping.

Yeah pretty much the same goals, just more challenging since the full width roll up sectional garage door precludes any ceiling hook use in the middle of the garage. The right side of the garage was easy. I just mounted the unit kind of high on the wall and so when it is holstered the cord is a good 2ft off the floor I have 6 to 8 feet of free cord to reach the car without ever letting it touch the ground. I could do the same for a "back in" on the left side. But that's been her side (closer to the house entry door). And backing in is not a good fit for her at all. I saw something at a DIY car wash that got me thinking :ugeek: A similar set up just might be the ticket. I'll explore it further (measurement, structural attachment points, etc., as time permits. Caring for a 90 year old, nursing a broken hip is a three shift full time job and for the next week I am covering all three shifts. So we will see :?

Aeorwhatt

 

[Aerowhatt]

To answer your question, looks like a few of us multi-iMiEV owners need to get our creative juices flowing to come up with a nice concept before bending any conduit... At the moment, I'm afraid I have other priorities but as they develop I will share my thoughts either here or in a PM.

Thanks Joe, I appreciate the consideration. I know from other posts that you are not averse to going "outside the box" if needed. I have a feeling there is little "inside of the box" to elegantly resolve this problem. There is always a way!

Aerowhatt

 

[Aerowhatt]

This may have been covered somewhere else but I couldn't find it.

My wife's new car is equipped with the backup alarm (assuming factory installed). How is this thing supposed to work. I read the Mitsu explanation of the beeping closer and closer together as you back into something with a steady tone at about a foot away. Hers does do that, however you have to be outside the car leaning down by the rear bumper to hear anything at all??? Obviously something is not right with it. So I'm wondering when it does work correctly where does the sound emanate from and how loud should it be?

Aerowhatt

 

[Phximiev]

As to the backup sensor/alarm, we would like to know more about it, if anyone else has input. We have been considering the backup sensor (Rear Park Assist Sensors as described in the Mitsubishi i-Miev Genuine Accessories pamphlet available from dealers) or a backup camera.

The cost of the sensor is $230.00 per the pamphlet plus labor though the dealership. Seems a little high to us.

We don't know of anyone in Phoenix who has one, but would like to know more about it and of course if there are alternatives.

 

[JoeS]

My wife's new car is equipped with the backup alarm (assuming factory installed). How is this thing supposed to work. I read the Mitsu explanation of the beeping closer and closer together as you back into something with a steady tone at about a foot away. Hers does do that, however you have to be outside the car leaning down by the rear bumper to hear anything at all??? Obviously something is not right with it. So I'm wondering when it does work correctly where does the sound emanate from and how loud should it be?

On the driver's side on the side wall towards the back you will see a little black box. It has a volume control on it. I was surprised that not all SE Premiums with rear cameras have this feature.

 

[PV1]

I thought there was a tech page dedicated to it, but I didn't see one. Guess I'll have to make one. Check back later on.

(Link will be posted here when article is created)

 

[Aerowhatt]

Thank you gentlemen it now is audible and obnoxious in tone just as an alert or alarm should be. I didn't expect a volume or mute to be in the trunk area. So without guidance who knows :roll:

I think since there is nothing in the manual or on Mitsu's web site about adjusting it (not that I could find anyway). A tech page on it would be handy!

 

[iwatson]

We have this on our 2012 SE model. I'm almost certain that this is sold as a dealer installed option only, and is not shipped from the factory already equipped. As such this may be the reason you can't find it in the manual. Instructions probably came in the box with the back-up sensor kit.

 

[tigger19687]

I googled how to turn off the sound. That was one of the 1st things I did.
It is UBER ANNOYING !! although I did not know that it would beep faster if you got closer to an object. Either way the beep is annoying and I wouldn't use it anyway.

There is a button on it that you can push, if I remember correctly.
Mine is located on the driver side right behind the rear seat. It is about 2 inches squared (or I think it is rectangular come to think of it)

 

[PV1]

There's a mute button next to the volume knob.

The pattern is:

One beep when put into Reverse.
~3 beeps per second when 3 feet away.
~6 beeps per second when 2 feet away.
Solid tone when 1 foot or less away.

Mine was listed on the window sticker. It's also available to add when building the car online, but that doesn't answer where it is actually installed, but it's likely at the factory if ordered when the car is. However, if can be added to the car later on if desired, as are all the options on the US 2014 and everything except the nav package on the 2016.

The only time I've shut mine off is when a sensor failed and the thing beeped all the time in Reverse. Other than that, it works well.

 

[Aerowhatt]

I kind of like the back up alert feature now that it is working. My wife finds it useful enough to override any annoyance factor. Glad I don't have it on my 'i' though. It would be useless with the constant use of various cargo racks in the hitch receiver. I always seem to have something following me around :roll:

I got the charging cord situation figured out for my wife's car and roughly installed, I'll get some pictures soon and post them in case someone else has the same type of issue to overcome (two car garage with a single 16ft wide sectional door). It's hard-ish to explain in words, so pictures will be better. I tried to go, low tech, low skill, easy to find materials since the goal was to keep it simple enough to be a "universal" type solution. After about a 10 days of use, it is easy to use and convenient. Not exactly pretty but hey it is the garage afterall

Speaking of hitch receivers I have mostly finalized the engineering on my serial hybrid addition "cargo rack". Still will be a while for the prototype to be built with the time demands of having an elderly loved one at home to care for and attempt to rehab towards independence once again. But it looks like the serial hybrid addition should work out well for freeing the 'i' for more stress free, nearly out of range, or completely out of range travels. Once there is more worth posting I will put it on the range extender thread.

Aerowhatt

 

[Aerowhatt]

IMG_0691 by T Pope, on Flickr

As you can see with this kind of door you simply cannot use the ceiling to hang a charge cord. I made a suspension rod out of 3/4 inch EMT conduit that goes between the door roller tracks. The goal was to have a one handed, convenient, low cost solution to plugging in and unplugging the left side car in the garage. EMT conduit is inexpensive and strong enough for many little "off" topic uses.

IMG_0693 by T Pope, on Flickr

A close up of the parking location for the charge handle. It's simply a scrap 2x4 attached to the drive rail of the door opener with a framing strap and a few deck screws. It's snug up against the drive rail and has no play without putting any fasteners into the drive rail. Easy overhead reach with one hand to get the handle. The receptacle is from Emotorwerks and is the priciest piece of the whole installation. Mine came with my juice box 40 which is mounted in the toolbox on my car so for this project it was virtually a free leftover

IMG_0698 by T Pope, on Flickr

Here it is in action, easy to pass by on the left.

IMG_0695 by T Pope, on Flickr

Attachment to the wall (as it turned out was largely unnecessary). Originally I planned to have the the suspension rod only go half way across the door with the wall and one track rail providing support. Hence the beefy wall attachment. It was a bit to springy for my taste though on to plan B. Support on both track rails instead

So it took a couple of angle brackets and some SS hose clamps two sections of 3/4 inch EMT conduit. One short section of 1/2 inch EMT (joining the two 3/4 inch sections). Some zip ties a mini bungie (for strain relief), scrap of 2x4 and left over charge handle receptacle. Total cost of materials was about $25 not including the doo dad from emotorwerks.

Aerowhatt

 

[JoeS]

Aerowhatt, great solution usable both when the garage door is open or closed. How high off the ground is the loop attached to the handle - above one's head?

 

[Aerowhatt]

Aerowhatt, great solution usable both when the garage door is open or closed. How high off the ground is the loop attached to the handle - above one's head?

Thanks . . . my son is 6' 2" so I put at 6' 4" and change at the lowest point. Sort of a tough compromise to arrive at. So that it misses all the heads (especially mine ). But with the handle low enough for My 5"7" wife to reach comfortably with one hand and an armload of stuff in the other hand. It is also well out of the way for the other car to drive in and out while hers is charging. In a few months I'll get another Siemens versa charger (like the one in the background of one of the photos) for her side of the garage. With the 20ft cord it will go from a high wall mount (Like mine) right where the current OEM one does now. Then she will have the simple to use time delay features and faster charging that I already enjoy now.

Aerowhatt

 

[Aerowhatt]

Been a while since I've added anything new. Still up to my eyeballs caring for my ailing Mom living with us and trying to keep the business active.

several months ago I upgraded my wife's imiev to the same Siemens EVSE that I have. Both units are connected to a single 240 volt 40 amp circuit. Since they have the built in timer and amp adjustment it is really easy for her to delay charge without having to learn the cars remote. Another thing I like is that it is mounted at the left rear of her car so as she walks to the drivers door the bright green (i'm plugged in still) halo on the EVSE is un missable. It's set up with the same overhead drop in cord set up pictured earlier in the thread. Kinda cool when they both are charging and one halo on each side of the garage is fading in and out. Really nice units that I could not be happier with.

Aerowhatt