New owner

[restrict]

I am the new owner of an i-Miev and I wanted to introduce myself and our car. It's a blue 2014 ES with 8000 miles. The car seems to be in good conditions except for a few scratches and dents.

The first challenge was to drive it from Sausalito to Livermore (60 miles) with less than a full charge (the rest was used for the test drive), but it managed to arrive with 8 miles to spare.

The car will be used by my wife to drive to work, 38-50 miles commute, charging at both ends. We will see how it manages.

 

[Phximiev]

Very nice, by chance did you buy this off the San Francisco craigslist?

And welcome aboard!

 

[mdbuilder]

Looks nice, 38-50 miles should not be an issue. Although, do you have level 2 charging available? Charging fast enough to make the return trip might be an issue with L1 only which only adds about 4 miles per hour.

 

[restrict]

Very nice, by chance did you buy this off the San Francisco craigslist?

Yes, it was listed there. Apparently there was a lot of interest. I managed to get there first .

 

[restrict]

Looks nice, 38-50 miles should not be an issue. Although, do you have level 2 charging available? Charging fast enough to make the return trip might be an issue with L1 only which only adds about 4 miles per hour.

There is free level 2 charging at my wife's workplace. At home we have L1 for the moment, but that should be enough to charge overnight.

 

[mdbuilder]

Maybe, if you start from work full and do 50 miles you would need 12 hours + to get back to full.

There is an evse upgrade available the will boost your current item from 8 amps / 120 to 12 amps / 120 or 240. But, see how it goes first. Even if you don't quite make it to full for the morning you should be ok with the L2 at work...

 

[rkarl89203]

Nice car!
Welcome!

 

[Phximiev]

Very nice, by chance did you buy this off the San Francisco craigslist?

Yes, it was listed there. Apparently there was a lot of interest. I managed to get there first .

I did wonder; I checked the craigslist posting last night (posted also in this forum) and it had been taken down by the owner.

You got a great buy!

 

[restrict]

Maybe, if you start from work full and do 50 miles you would need 12 hours + to get back to full.

There is an evse upgrade available the will boost your current item from 8 amps / 120 to 12 amps / 120 or 240. But, see how it goes first. Even if you don't quite make it to full for the morning you should be ok with the L2 at work...

My current charger can do either 8 or 12 amps at 120V. Perhaps this came standard with the 2014 model?

 

[JoeS]

restrict, welcome to the forum and congratulations on a great purchase! I had passed on that CraigsList link to an interested friend but you beat him to it.

Big difference between 38miles and 50miles one-way. At 38 miles your wife can drive in the diamond lane and stay with the traffic, which often hovers in the vicinity of 80mph. Couldn't do that comfortably at that speed if the distance is 50 miles. All depends how much of the commute is sustained highway speeds.

Piece of cake with L2 charging at work, and, you're right, the 2014 and 2016 i-MiEVs came with selectable 8A/12A at 120vac. At 12A, your recharge rate is six bars for five hours of charging. No problem as long as you don't forget to plug her in.

Please do keep us updated on your wife's reaction and driving/charging successes. If she's like some wives on this forum, you won't get your hands on that car ever again. BTW, note that the driver's seat has a height adjustment lever.

 

[restrict]

restrict, welcome to the forum and congratulations on a great purchase!

Thanks.

I had passed on that CraigsList link to an interested friend but you beat him to it.

I hope he finds another good deal, there aren't many i-mievs for sale.

Big difference between 38miles and 50miles one-way. At 38 miles your wife can drive in the diamond lane and stay with the traffic, which often hovers in the vicinity of 80mph. Couldn't do that comfortably at that speed if the distance is 50 miles. All depends how much of the commute is sustained highway speeds.

Usually the longer 50 mile route is the fastest when there is heavy traffic, so not much fast driving. I am not sure how it will improve using the HOV lanes so that range becomes an issue. The 38 mile route is through two-lane roads (CA-84), so no fast driving.

Piece of cake with L2 charging at work, and, you're right, the 2014 and 2016 i-MiEVs came with selecable 8A/12A at 120vac. At 12A, your recharge rate is six bars for five hours of charging. No problem as long as you don't forget to plug her in.

In fact, that was one of the reasons for choosing the i-Miev: 120V charging is feasible. We have a 240V dryer at home, but it does not have ground (old house), and since we rent I don't want to mess with the electrical installation unless it's really necessary.

Please do keep us updated on your wife's reaction and driving/charging successes. If she's like some wives on this forum, you won't get your hands on that car ever again. BTW, note that the driver's seat has a height adjustment lever.

She found the height adjustment the first time she drove it ;-)

 

[sandange]

Congratulations & Welcome to the forum

You got yourself a great little car.
We have a 2014 es model same color and have racked up a lot of miles on it in 2 years
Once your over the every day commuting rehearsal you'll be more comfortable with the range and charging required.

Just 2 small notes
The charger that comes with the car - 110v , 8/12amp CANNOT be converted at
EVSE upgrade to L2 240V use.
&
The 2014 model has been fitted with the new updated AC unit and so far no issues that I've seen with it.

If you have L3 Fast charging available on your route , don't be shy to use it.
We do all the time

Hope you enjoy many EV Miles with smiles

 

[mdbuilder]

Just for reference purposes, I did exactly 100 miles today. 12 in the morning, plugged in for a full charge. Left on a 44 mile leg around noon, almost all 55 mph highway driving. Plugged in to the L3 Evgo charger and it said 42% charge, after 25 minutes of shopping the charge had completed. Not sure if it was right at 80% but there were 14 bars and the RR meter said 57 miles. Arrived home after the 44 mile return trip with 3 bars remaining and 13 on the RR. No HVAC used other than a few minutes in the parking lot.

 

[JoeS]

restrict, with the weather now noticeably cooler, you might want to give your wife a treat if she is taking the i-MiEV to work tomorrow morning:

1. First, turn on the switch for the driver's-side seat heater and close the door when leaving the car.

2. With the car still plugged into the wall and fully charged, about 15 minutes before she leaves for work use the Remote and pre-heat the car for her. Instructions here: http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2780

Once she gets into the car there is no need to turn on the car's heater, as the seat heater will be more than adequate for her trip (if needed at all in these still relatively-mild conditions). It's her first impression getting into the pre-warmed car that results in an "aaaaaah" moment (i.e., warm fuzzy feeling).

 

[restrict]

The charger that comes with the car - 110v , 8/12amp CANNOT be converted at
EVSE upgrade to L2 240V use.

Good to know.

&
The 2014 model has been fitted with the new updated AC unit and so far no issues that I've seen with it.

Does it use the AC as a heat pump to generate heat as well?

 

[restrict]

restrict, with the weather now noticeably cooler, you might want to give your wife a treat if she is taking the i-MiEV to work tomorrow morning:

1. First, turn on the switch for the driver's-side seat heater and close the door when leaving the car.

2. With the car still plugged into the wall and fully charged, about 15 minutes before she leaves for work use the Remote and pre-heat the car for her. Instructions here: http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2780

Once she gets into the car there is no need to turn on the car's heater, as the seat heater will be more than adequate for her trip (if needed at all in these still relatively-mild conditions). It's her first impression getting into the pre-warmed car that results in an "aaaaaah" moment (i.e., warm fuzzy feeling).

I followed your advise, thanks.

Today the car managed to get to her work with half of the battery, and about 38 miles of range on the indicator. We will see how it does on the trip back.

 

[Don]

Does it use the AC as a heat pump to generate heat as well?

We all wish it did, but unfortunately not. It uses a standard ICE heater core in the passenger compartment with heat provided by an electric element which runs off the 330 volt traction battery

While the A/C is incredibly efficient and using it only cuts the range by 10 to 15%, the heater is a real range killer - You'll lose as much as 40% if you try to stay comfortable in the winter. A popular modification for those living in cold climates is to add a diesel fueled heater - Costs about $650 if you do it yourself

Don

 

[restrict]

Today on the commute back, she used 3/4 of the battery with 15 miles left. And saved around 20 minutes with the carpool lanes.

 

[phb10186]

Today on the commute back, she used 3/4 of the battery with 15 miles left. And saved around 20 minutes with the carpool lanes.

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like a successful trial.

I had the heater on full over the return leg on a trip yesterday. Outward highway 30 miles at 55-60mph no heater was about 50% of battery, return on local roads 45-50mph of 18 miles with full heater was about 45% - taking the battery down to 1 bar - so it did essentially halve the range.

 

[Don]

Today on the commute back, she used 3/4 of the battery with 15 miles left. And saved around 20 minutes with the carpool lanes.

The important thing to instill in her mind, and early on, is that range is pretty much whatever you make it - You're in control of the situation. IOW, if you *know* you have plenty of battery for your trip, drive as fast as you like (HOV lanes, etc) and use whatever climate control you need/want. But, if there is the slightest doubt, conserve, conserve, conserve and you'll get where you need to go with none of the dreaded range anxiety which really worries some people - Slow down, turn off the heater (and use the heated seat instead) until you know for sure you're OK for range. Many's the time on longer trips we take the back roads to our destination using no climate control, see that we have lots of 'extra' range to get back home, and return on the freeway with the A/C blasting cold. For regular, everyday trips you'll know soon what the normal routine is, but for trips you seldom make and especially those which are getting near the expected range of the car, you'll need to be a bit more careful and think about the possibilities before you leave

My wife has never once had a close call in 4 1/2 years with the car, but we have read here about a few spouses who had just one scare and no longer want to drive the car at all. Sad, and completely preventable . . . . with just a little common sense planning

Don