Realistic I-miev range for new owner

[RobertC]

I have flat towed (with all four tires on the ground) an ES and a SE several times each. Sometimes one MiEV towing the other. It's good to get above 20 mph but above 35 mph is not needed. Around 35 mph in B the main gauge reads near 50 Amps of regen charge. With a little brake pedal regen the charging can go near 80 Amps.

Tow charging. I love it. There was a video a while back on this forum with a Nissan Leaf.
Here's the video again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sujv90PLLY
Did you use a tow strap, tow bar, or just a good piece of rope?
Could you give a description of how you tow charged? Where you attached to the i-MiEV?
Thanks.

 

[ndm]

Feel free to move this to another thread, I still think a smart diesel as a donor would be the ultimate pusher trailer just think of the possibilities if it could be shared, why tow !

 

[jray3]

Jray3,

On tow charging can you not just turn the Asc off ?

Don.....

Doh! That oughtta work?...

 

[jray3]

... Yes, someone finally did it and wrote a brief post on it here, but for the life of me, I can't find it now ... Don

DonDakin was the first to post a photo of his new charging cable:

Has anyone tried to charge the imiev with this cable ?

I think it also requires an F-150.....

Don
http://imgur.com/FHAhxlc

From: http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&p=15745#p15745

... 7. Poor man's CHAdeMO: This past weekend, I got stuck... My brother says "No problem." He hooks a tow line to the front of my MiEV and the back of his old YuGO ...

Also from above:
Don't forget to have the READY light on for cooling or the inverter will be destroyed ...

[/quote]

Awesome, I would pay for footage of a Yugo towing an i-MiEV! I would've doubted there were any roadworthy Yugo left outside of collections, let alone one willing to play around with that kind of tow burden! John, your family is obviously not afraid of the automotive arcane!

Yes I'd agree that the car should self-limit and regen will disappear EVen in B mode once high SOC is reached. Tow charging opens a world of possibilities, including RV dinghy duty, where N could be used for easier towing when a charge is not desired (tow an empty i up a mountain, hop out and shift to B before the descent!!!). Of course you'd roll up the odometer and jeopardize the warranty from two or more angles, but sez la vie!

Fiddler John- do tell if you've come up with a tow bar.

 

[DonDakin]

This is a little off topic but again on tow charging,

I bought the tow cable when I bought the imiev as a ultimate backup in case I ran out of charge. Never used it but wondered if anyone did.

I can see where tow charging would be a great way to go for a long distance trip. You could drive secondary roads and then when low on charge stop at a gas station and try to get a tow truck to haul you 30 miles in the direction you are going. Then pay him and continue with a near full charge. It's really better then a quick charge because you are making progress as you charge.

Even a rope tow would work in a pinch but since it's not legal it's not the first option.

If people got organized you could even have a "tow-share" online. Guys with trucks could make extra money hauling/recharging ev's and ev's could go farther.

I once bought an old car from a retired couple that had towed it behind their motor home. The tow bracket came with the car. It just had a couple of pins to install. I threw out the bracket years ago. Should have kept it.

Don......

 

[Zelenec]

OMG, I cannot believe anyone would attempt this when shipping the car is so cheap, like $500?!
Hell, it'd cost you at least that much in hotel rooms, unless you're sleeping in the car.
This is a small commuter car, forget the "trip" idea, that's flat out crazy in my opinion, these short range EV's are not designed for 1000KM trips. Sure people have done these trips, but in the end, they are doing it to talk about the trip later to their friends, who by the way will (rightly) think they are nut jobs.

Out there are still many "crazy" people! And twe winner is... click

 

[acensor]

Don mentioned --
"Get a motel which will let you plug in overnight for those spots on your route where charge points are hard to find."

When you request that privilage be warned that some may have very unrealistically high ideas of what the cost of the power you take will cost.
Around where I live it costs about $1.60 US to fully charge totally depleted battery.
If fishing/negotiation for plug in recharge privilages want to (a) politely educate the motel or other power owner of the cost (b) offer to pay them something that more than offsets their cost (one of our members here offers RV park/camp managers $10 to stop at their park and plug in for two hours IIRR) and (c) carry a long, heavy guage extension cord.

My final thought is: Did you even consider getting a quote on what someone would charge to just put it on a professional car moving truck and deliver it?
It's not the same as paying an two truck business. What the car movers do is plan a route where they can deliver several cars (you've seen those trucks with maybe 8 cars on board). It cost us under $400 to have our car trucked about 800 miles when we purchased it. Only catch is you have to do it on their schedule.

 

[burnabyimiev]

So, Rocky49, are you going to do the trip? I've been contemplating going from Burnaby to Southern Oregon this summer--theoretically quite do-able with the West Coast Electric Highway infrastructure, way easier than your Vancouver to Edmonton plan--but my 2-year-old might not like the extra hours all of the charging will add to the trip.

 

[burnabyimiev]

And by 2-year-old, I mean human child sitting in the backseat. My wife isn't that hot on the idea either. My argument is that we should do long road trips before battery deterioration starts to cut into our range!