Number 2 on the list and some good press finally

[klindholm]

Article on the 7 most affordable EVs:

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/automobiles/7-most-affordable-electric-vehicles-on-the-u-s-market.html/?a=viewall

 

[PV1]

Not bad.

I started the list and saw a Mercedes and the i3 at sub-$40,000, then I noticed it's with the FTC. Not to complain, but why do many publications insist on including the credit (which most people cannot get the full value of), then have to say, "Oh, you have to make so much money to get it."? Wouldn't it be better to list actual price, then say you can get credits and rebates to get some money back? Just wondering.

By the way, $22,995 is a killer price for an EV. Apparently the Smart is still a bit cheaper.

 

[MLucas]

The SmartEV and the Mitsubishi i are very close in specs except its cheaper to drive the i MiEV 25 miles than the Smart, 90 cents / 96 cents. But, the article gushes over the Smart while relegating the i MiEV to second place. It's not really a fair comparison when the Smart is only half a car compared to the i MiEV that has four seats and a big cargo area.

 

[RobertC]

By the way, $22,995 is a killer price for an EV. Apparently the Smart is still a bit cheaper.

The article "7 Most Affordable Electric Vehicles on the U.S. Market" is not correct.
The Mitsubishi i EV is still the most affordable electric vehicle on the US market.
A quick check on AutoTrader for the lowest MSRP (before the federal tax credit) shows:
2014 Mitsubishi i EV: MSRP $23,845 (Including the dreaded $850 destination/handling charge)
2014 smart fortwo EV: MSRP $25,750

The article does not mention that to get the $12,490 price for the smart fortwo EV, you have to sign up for the "Battery Assurance Program" where you buy the car but rent the battery for $80/month (plus tax) for up to 10 years. You can cancel at any time, provided you return the battery?

Also, I have resolved to never call my car the "EYE-MEEVE" again. Its an awful name.
From now on its the Mitsubishi i electric vehicle, or the Mitsubishi i EV.

 

[PV1]

Technically, our cars (the 2012) is simply i. New cars (the 2014) are the i-MiEV. Either way, people still say, "Mitsubishi what?", including some dealer staff, sadly.

Maybe we should call it the Mitsubishi Bean. :lol:

 

[Vike]

Also, I have resolved to never call my car the "EYE-MEEVE" again. Its an awful name.
From now on its the Mitsubishi i electric vehicle, or the Mitsubishi i EV.

I'll admit it's a terrible name, but I don't think you're improving matters by calling it something equally clunky AND unreferenceably wrong. i-MiEV has the virtue of being unique, something that couldn't be said of Mitsu's original "i" moniker in North America. "i" made no sense in conversation and rendered search engines useless - bad, very bad.

Would all and sundry have been better off with a name like Current, Lektro, or PET (Personal Electric Transport)? Well, yeah. But that's not what we got. Call it what you like, but if you don't tell people it's an i-MiEV, you may as well just tell them it's a battery buggy - it'd be about as useful. If you don't believe me, try Googling "i" and then try Googling "miev" - I think the results speak for themselves.

 

[PV1]

Would all and sundry have been better off with a name like Current?

Mitsubishi Current...I like that. But you're right, i-MiEV is what we got, so i-MiEV is what it is.

It is a logical name when you understand how it came to be, but really, "Mitsubishi i-MiEV" is rather redundant. Do we know what the i stands for?

M itsubishi
I nnovative
E lectric
V ehicle

"Mitsubishi i EV" is really MiEV spelled out in a non-redundant way.

 

[Mart]

The i name was considered something "intelligent", tech (i-phone, etc.), and a play on the Japanese word for love, usually rendered in an English phonetic spelling as ai. The i in MiEV originally stood for "in-wheel" motors, which were tried on the Colt EV, but eventually dropped, so they changed what it stood for in the MiEV designation.

 

[Barbagris]

Mitsubishi i exists previous to the i MiEV, a kei car with a 660 cm3 three-cylinder engine. From 2006:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_i

When it comes electric (four years later) we get the MiEV.

 

[Vike]

Mitsubishi i exists previous to the i MiEV, a kei car with a 660 cm3 three-cylinder engine.

That's true around the world, but not in North America. The kei car was never street legal here, of course, so Mitsu thought there'd be no need for the "MiEV" designation here as there was nothing from which the EV needed to be distinguished. Unfortunately the badging of the car (which quite clearly has MiEV on it) and its established reputation as an overseas EV pioneer amongst automotive writing types undermined Mitsu's effort to use the cutesy "i" moniker by itself, as many writers called it the i-MiEV anyway. The result was confusion instead of cuteness, hence the decision to give up for 2014 and just use i-MiEV. Sitting on a lot full of Lancers and Galants and Outlanders, it's a pity the i-MiEV had to be cursed with such a clumsy tag when its stablemates had so much friendlier names. But of course, that's just one of the many peculiarities in the story of our favorite transport pod.

 

[Barbagris]

That's true around the world, but not in North America.

In know this is a USA-centered forum, but the i-MiEV is a global car, and US market (or Canadian) isn't the main. From Wikipedia:

As of December 2013, more than 28,000 i-MiEV family passenger cars have been sold worldwide since 2009. Japan is the top selling market with 9,402 i-MiEVs sold through December 2013, followed by France with 4,455 units of the i-MiEV family registered through December 2013, Norway with 4,241 units registered, Germany with 2,307 units, and the United States, with 1,697 i-MiEVs sold through December 2013.

Having said that, Mitsubishi America could have changed the name in your market? For sure.

 

[RobertC]

It is a logical name when you understand how it came to be, but really, "Mitsubishi i-MiEV" is rather redundant. Do we know what the i stands for?

M itsubishi
I nnovative
E lectric
V ehicle

"Mitsubishi i EV" is really MiEV spelled out in a non-redundant way.

I don't see the hyphen.

"Mitsubishi i Electric Vehicle"

 

[PV1]

I don't see the hyphen.

It is i-MiEV on Mitsubishi's website, except a couple of places where it's I-MiEV.

 

[MLucas]

The MiEV name is applied to all of their electric vehicles. Like the Minicab MiEV. The hyphenation is merely a convenience. And as MMC has recycled as much of the gasser into the EV, even the badging has been passed along to our car like a hand-me-down shirt from an older brother.

If we do anything with the name, I think we should change it to the 'Current'. I like that name a lot. My previous car was a Nissan Versa which is known as the Tiida through out the rest of the world and a Honda Fit is known as the Jazz every where else. Of course, Toyota changed the Echo which I preferred to the Yaris.

Why not have a name that makes more sense in the market it sells.

 

[JoeS]

I went back and re-read that article, as something did not seem right - as was touched upon by some of the (familiar? :roll: ) commenters …

The premise of this article is very simple: take the MSRP and subtract the $7500 federal tax credit to arrive at the "purchase" price, and ignore all taxes. Then, using the EPA numbers, arrive at an 'operating' cost figure over five years. For the purposes of this article, they only identified 'fuel' as being an operating cost and ignored everything else.

For all the cars other than the Smart, the purchase price was MSRP. For the Smart car, they used what is presumably the MSRP WITHOUT THE BATTERY. I'm sorry, but since they did that, then the battery lease price ($80/mo ignoring taxes) should be included into their operating cost.

So, let's revisit their numbers:

i-MiEV
Purchase price = $15495 after tax credit
Annual fuel cost per EPA = $550
Cost after five years = $15495 + ($550x5) = $18,245

Smart
Purchase price = $12490 (I'll use their number without double-checking it) after tax credit
Annual battery rental cost = $960
Annual fuel cost per EPA = $600
Cost after five years = $12490 + ($960x5) + ($600x5) = $20,290

What am I missing?

 

[fjpod]

I like the name "the juice".

 

[JoeS]

Since no one commented on either my premise or my math, I thought I'd throw it into the comments section of that article, as I do think the i-MiEV beats the Smart car as most affordable electric car in the US.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/automob...ic-vehicles-on-the-u-s-market.html/?a=viewall

 

[DaveMiller]

Your math looks correct to me. The follow up article comments support you. Thanks for defending our Mievs.

Dave

 

[sandange]

Just read your posting Joe - here as well as on the other site.

Well Said.

 

[RobertC]

Since no one commented on either my premise or my math, I thought I'd throw it into the comments section of that article, as I do think the i-MiEV beats the Smart car as most affordable electric car in the US.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/automob...ic-vehicles-on-the-u-s-market.html/?a=viewall

The author of the article, Eric Schaal, is a freelance writer who has written numerous "list" articles about electric vehicles (and gas vehicles, and sports).

I looked through several of his electric vehicle lists, and they are woefully inaccurate. A few of the lists were disparaging to the Mitsubishi i EV, and were based on biased opinion and erroneous information.