Signing paperwork for my new i tonight!

[Don]

A more practical approach if what you really want is to just make enough juice to power your car is to install a solar water heating system. Using the sun to heat domestic water instead of using electricity (or some other fossil fuel) can save you enough electricity to power your car . . . . and make you essentially as 'green' as if you had enough solar panels on your carport to charge the car. I installed such a system with a 40 sq foot collector and it saves me about $40 to $50 per month. It provides ALL of our hot water for about 10 months each year and a sizeable portion of it the other two months

That sounds interesting to me, Don. Do you have any readily available links with information I can look into? Of course, I can Google it later when I have more time, but if you have some good sites you consider extremely helpful, I would love to get those. Thanks.

Yes, you can find most anything you'd care to know online - Anything I could tell you would be pretty out of date by now I'm afraid

I designed and built my own from scratch about 7 years ago. I bought all high quality components and used 1/2 inch copper tubing to plumb everything up - Lots of soldering, but then nothing I hadn't done before. Copper tubing was lots cheaper 7 years ago than it is now, I can tell you!

All in all, I spent about $3,000 but then the IRS gave me back about half of that the year I installed it. Even at $40 per month, the remaining $1500 was quickly amortized over the next 3 years, so it's been making me money now for almost 4 years - It's paid me back lots more than I paid for it, so it's really an 'investment' at this point

Having a system like mine professionally installed would probably run about double what I paid, so I guess it would be pretty important to know you're going t stay in the same house for quite awhile. Your payback would probably be closer to 10 years, but it would still be much faster than a solar PV system

Unlike solar PV systems which keep getting better and better every year with changes in technology, solar water heating systems have been pretty well perfected for a long time, but unfortunately, the prices aren't coming down. The same 4 X 10 panel that I paid less than $1K for 7 years ago now sells for about $1350 . . . . probably because it's chock full of copper! Why is it that only electronics get cheaper as the years go by?

Don

 

[RobbW]

Thanks for the info, Don. At-home solar power is something I would definitely like to pursue, but will need to wait until we've replenished our funds quite a bit! Our initial foray into the world of EVs has been a whirlwind of cash flow. Not that it has been a monstrously expensive adventure, but definitely more money than we've spent in a long time. Another form of alternative energy I've been trying to find more info on is home wind power. I once saw a special a couple years ago about this inventor who had developed a new form of vertical axis wind turbine called the Helix or something like that. The special documented how the helix design was more efficient at generating power in low-wind areas than any other type of wind turbine. Since then, I have wanted to install such a device at my home. But, again, they are currently prohibitively expensive. And even though they are designed for low-wind areas, I have no way of knowing if my location has too little wind for even that style of wind turbine.

I would love to go even greener by installing solar power and wind power devices at my home. And I'm sure more people would if it weren't so darn costly to install even a pathetically-small device of these types. I know in some areas of the country utilities will lease or subsidize the installation of alternative energy devices as long as they are wired into the grid to provide "free" energy back to the utilities. But Illinois, and the Chicagoland area specifically, is kind of slow in adopting such programs.

 

[JoeS]

RobbW, first do the math. I doubt whether small residential windgens will ever amortize (function of recurring maintenance costs), whereas for solar electric it's now down to about ten years and solar hot water should be down to less than five years (depending on your utility rates). Simply ask for some turnkey quotes, and they'll include a payback analysis in the quote (but do take it with a grain of salt) - oh, and an input panel upgrade could be done at the same time.

 

[MLucas]

I would love to go even greener by installing solar power and wind power devices at my home. And I'm sure more people would if it weren't so darn costly to install even a pathetically-small device of these types. I know in some areas of the country utilities will lease or subsidize the installation of alternative energy devices as long as they are wired into the grid to provide "free" energy back to the utilities. But Illinois, and the Chicagoland area specifically, is kind of slow in adopting such programs.

In Ontario, Canada you can get your Solar Panels paid for by Ontario Power Generation using the micro-fit program. Too bad more places aren't doing this, there would be a lot more solar on roofs right now. With micro-fit there are a lot of solar panels going up in my neigborhood. I've been approved, just waiting for my installer to get over to my house and hook me up!

 

[RobbW]

RobbW, first do the math. I doubt whether small residential windgens will ever amortize (function of recurring maintenance costs), whereas for solar electric it's now down to about ten years and solar hot water should be down to less than five years (depending on your utility rates). Simply ask for some turnkey quotes, and they'll include a payback analysis in the quote (but do take it with a grain of salt) - oh, and an input panel upgrade could be done at the same time.

Joe, if the buy-in cost were low enough, I wouldn't care as much about the return on investment. I would just do it for the good of the environment. It's only because of the high cost of investment that people care about whether or not they will save enough money on their utilities to cover the initial cost. When I go grocery shopping, I have a choice between locally-grown organic produce and conventional produce. I really don't want to put pesticides into my body and I want to help support local, organic farmers. And since the premium I'm paying for the organic produce is roughly a scant 20 cents, I have no problem paying for the organic in order to be "greener". However, if the premium on the organic produce was 10-15 times the price of the conventional, I most likely would never pick organic unless, of course, I was crazy-mad OCD about organic and willing to pay any cost!

 

[RobbW]

So, we took delivery of our new i tonight! Yea! My wife and I just adore the little gal. She's considerably roomier than I was expecting. The ride is smooth, and she's got quite a bit of pep to her for being an EV. After spending the rest of the night reading up on the owner's manual and getting to know her better, I have a few questions that I'm hoping some of you may be able to answer:

1. We got the SE model with the premium package with the 40GB HDD and Navi. It was my understanding this would come with the premium sound system. When I read through the Mitsu Multi-Communication System manual, I saw on page 11-2 a section regarding Sound Control. There are two parts to this. One is labeled "If Premium Sound System is NOT connected" and the other reads "If Premium Sound System IS connected". Assuming I had the Premium Sound System, I pressed the "Sound Control" button and was met only with the functions listed in the "Premium Sound System NOT connected" section. I can only adjust balance, fade, bass, mid, and treble. The booklet shows that if you have the premium sound system, you should see options for audio control, music type, and sound field. Under audio control, the booklet shows "Punch Level" in addition to the bass, mid, and treble settings. Apparently this is for the subwoofer setting. Then there are settings for "Music Type" which appears to be different EQ settings for different types of music. Finally, there is the "Sound Field" to select from Normal, Stage, Live, and Hall. I have none of the options listed under premium sound system. The odd thing is that the booklet states "If the Premium Sound System is connected", not "If Installed" or "Is Optional". Am I missing something here. Do I need to connect something for the premium sound system to work, or did I just not get the premium sound system?

2. Next, as soon as I turned on the stereo and started playing some music, I noticed that the right front speaker sounds like it is rattling; like there's something lose in the door. Rattling noises in my cars always bother the heck out of me. Is this common? Is it due to low quality materials used in the manufacture of the vehicle? Or does it sound like I should take it back in to have it looked at. I would expect my stereo to be working perfectly in a brand new vehicle!

3. I'm still not sure exactly how to use the remote to control the climate in the MiEV. Do you have to have the climate settings already dialed to where you want them before you send the "go" command via the remote? I couldn't get the A/C to turn on for the life of me using the remote. Granted, I only read the quick reference guide that came with the car and gave a short starter course on using the remote. I'll check the "BIG" book for any further details.

4. I was quite surprised not to see some function on the Navi screen that showed all your vehicular stats regarding power regen, fuel efficiency, et al like the Toyota Prius does. Every hybrid we looked at had these cool graphics showing you almost everything about your car. Does the i-MiEV not come with that or am I just missing it somehow?

Obviously, I will be spending much more time perusing the manuals in the days to come. Maybe the answers to my questions are buried in there for me to find. In the meantime, I will enjoy driving my new little coche!

 

[Don]

I can't help you with anything concerning the Navi package, since I don't have it, but I can tell you that the stereo system is very high quality - There shouldn't be any buzzing noises or rattling. About 6 months into ownership, I bought a good set of aftermarket Pioneer speakers, thinking I would 'upgrade' my stereo. Long story short, they sounded so much worse than the speakers the car came with that I promptly took them back

As to the screens you're used to seeing on hybrid vehicles . . . . this isn't a hybrid - The power system is MUCH simpler!

The remote control climate control operation has been discussed here on the forum ad nauseam and I suggest you read up on some of those discussions. It does work, and pretty much exactly the way the owners manual says it does. Manual settings of the climate controls in the car have nothing to do with it . . . . the remote does it's own thing - BUT . . . . it does not work with every brand of EVSE. If you can't get it to work with the L2 EVSE you bought, try it with the OEM EVSE. If it does work OK then, it's probably just that you bought one of the L2 units that it's not fully compatible with. One such EVSE was made by Clipper Creek and the car was recalled to be upgraded to fix this (the infamous 'Clipper Creek' recall) which we all assumed would also make it work with every other aftermarket EVSE out there . . . . but it didn't

It would be interesting to check to see that both software upgrades have been performed on your new car, as well as the brake vacuum pump recall. You can tell yourself if the recall was done by looking at the vacuum pump - There are photos here on the forum of both the old one and the new one

As to the 'pep' of the car - I find it's at least as good as many other small 4 cylinder cars . . . . you can actually outrun most of them and many V-6 powered cars and even a few V-8's as well

Don

 

[RobbW]

Thanks, Don. Okay, I understand about the hybrid displays not being relevant to the i-MiEV's simple power system. I guess I just like seeing fancy graphics and was initially disappointed there were none. I will get over this very quickly!

I've emailed the sales associate about my issues with the buzzing/rattling speaker. I hoping they will fix that when I take my i back in to have the rear park sensors installed next week. I realize the sound system is supposed to be very high quality, but it didn't sound that way to me. It didn't seem to have a whole lot of oomph or high quality sound. But, that may just be because I was afraid to turn up the volume too loud for fear of damaging the rattling speaker any further. The product information states the SE has 8 speakers. I think I have found them all (two tweeters above the dash, two in the front doors, two in the rear doors, and it appears there are two in the vertical columns in the cargo area). Since the booklet shows there SHOULD be a "Punch Level" adjustment for the subwoofers, I'm wondering where the subwoofers are? Are they built into the door speakers or are the two in the back cargo area the subwoofers?

As for the remote climate control, I will reread the owners manual. I only read the quick reference guide about the climate control. However, I note that you mention compatibility with the EVSE. I have not yet plugged my i in. Does it need to be plugged in for the remote climate control to work? If so, how does it work when you are away from any charging station and wish to pre-warm/cool the cabin?

Speaking of the EVSE, everything I have read states that the EVSE needs to be plugged into the power outlet and on before plugging it into the i-MiEV. What are the potential, if any, consequences of plugging into the i before plugging the EVSE into the power outlet? The reason I'm asking is because I'm concerned what adverse effects there may be in case of a power outage. If there is a power outage while the i is charging, then the possibility exists that the EVSE will be plugged into the i before it is receiving power from the outlet (once the power is restored). Will this cause damage or is the EVSE and/or i-MiEV smart enough to take precautionary measures in these situations?

In my email to the sales associate, I have inquired about the status of any software upgrades and recalls on my vehicle. I told him I'd like to have any and all issues taken care of when I bring my i back in for the parking sensors.

 

[Don]

There are no speakers in the rear columns - The other two that you haven't found are the co-axial tweeters in the front seat speakers. The rear seat speakers don't have those

You won't hurt anything plugging the EVSE in last, but it may t may not start charging if you don't plug it in the wall first. Some EVSE's will reset and restart after a power bump and some won't. There is a two way communication between the EVSE and the car and that begins with the EVSE, so it needs to be up and running first. The car looks for the signal from the EVSE when you plug it in (the EVSE tells the car what amount of power is available for charging) and the car uses that info to program the onboard charger to never draw more power than the EVSE said it could safely provide . . . . otherwise the car would try to charge at it's max of 3300 watts every time you plugged it in

The Leaf has all the whiz-bang computer graphics concerning power - The iMiEV's dash is much more minimalist, which many of us prefer

It sounds like you have a speaker which needs to be replaced. I'm sure your dealer will order you one and change it out. It's about a 10 minute job

Don

 

[MLucas]

The ride is smooth, and she's got quite a bit of pep to her for being an EV.

All EVs have a 'bit' of pep - they have 100% of their torque available at the moment you touch the amp pedal.

3. I'm still not sure exactly how to use the remote to control the climate in the MiEV. Do you have to have the climate settings already dialed to where you want them before you send the "go" command via the remote? I couldn't get the A/C to turn on for the life of me using the remote. Granted, I only read the quick reference guide that came with the car and gave a short starter course on using the remote. I'll check the "BIG" book for any further details.

Yes, you have to have the vehicle plugged in to use the remote settings. The purpose is to use the grid power to precondition your car, so you aren't using battery power to get your car to the right temperature you desire.

Your car also comes with automatic climate control as well. Put your gauge setting to Range Remaining and set both the fan speed and vent to AUTO. Then turn the dials off of AUTO and you'll see a difference in your range remaining. The AUTO settings will save you on range but you may not be as comfortable as you like - balance comfort versus range. If you need a lot of range then keep these on AUTO or OFF, and if not - then set it as you like.

 

[RobbW]

Yes, you have to have the vehicle plugged in to use the remote settings. The purpose is to use the grid power to precondition your car, so you aren't using battery power to get your car to the right temperature you desire.

Ah! I get it now. Thanks for the confirmation. As for the gauge settings, is there a way to leave the gauge permanently on a preferred display? After 10 seconds of inactivity, the gauge goes back to the odometer. Sometimes I may prefer to see the range remaining or the outside temperature all the time rather than how many miles I have driven in total.

 

[Don]

The ride is smooth, and she's got quite a bit of pep to her for being an EV.

All EVs have a 'bit' of pep - they have 100% of their torque available at the moment you touch the amp pedal.

That's kinda, sorta true for EV's with DC drive motors - You CAN supply maximum amps to the motor from a standing stop (and get tire shredding acceleration). But EV's with A/C synchronous motors like our iMiEV has are much different animals

Our rotor us unpowered. It's a permanent magnet and we revolve a synchronous magnetic field around it. Very little power is available at stall (only what the permanent magnet rotor can stand) and it's not until it's up and spinning that we can really begin to apply more current to the field to get it making good power. You don't see cars with A/C motors burning rubber for this reason

Our big advantage is that the motor can safely spin up to about twice the RPM that the DC guys can, so we don't need a transmission - The same gear ratio that provides good power at low speeds will also get us up above 80 MPH. The DC guys can't do that

Don

 

[Don]

As for the gauge settings, is there a way to leave the gauge permanently on a preferred display? After 10 seconds of inactivity, the gauge goes back to the odometer. Sometimes I may prefer to see the range remaining or the outside temperature all the time rather than how many miles I have driven in total.

That's strange. I leave mine set on RR 99% of the time and it never switches to the odometer - When I start the car, it comes up to RR automatically, since that's the last thing I had it set for

Don

 

[RobbW]

That's strange. I leave mine set on RR 99% of the time and it never switches to the odometer - When I start the car, it comes up to RR automatically, since that's the last thing I had it set for

Don

Maybe I'll try it again during my lunch break when I need to run some errands. Last night, I was sitting in my i reading through the quick reference guide and owners manual learning as many of the features as I could before finally having to get some sleep. I was toggling through the different displays on the gauge and intentionally left it on the outside temperature because I often like to see that. I went back to reading and looked up again 15-20 seconds later, and it had switched back to the odometer. The manual even says that it will switch back after 10 seconds of inactivity. I didn't get much further in the manual because I was really tired by this time, but I don't remember seeing any instructions on how to keep the gauge on a preferred or default display.

For any of you with the Navi/HDD system, I found this in the i's FAQs on the Mitsu site:

Q: What is the MMCS (Mitsubishi Multi Communication System)?

In addition to the Music Server, the HDD system also tracks your vehicle's maintenance, and provides a personal calendar with message playback function. It even tracks weather conditions — from barometric pressure to ambient temperature - and can provide you with the latitude and longitude of your vehicle's position. It also includes the following features:

Maintenance recorder including oil changes, oil, air, and fuel filter changes, tire rotation, and brake service.
Customer ETACS (Electronic Total Automation Control System) settings for lighting, door locks, and windshield wipers.
Calendar function.
Trip data.
Environmental data.

Of all the features listed above for the MMCS, the ONLY ones I could find anywhere in my i was the Calendar Function and the Lat/Long of your vehicle's location. Does anyone else's MMCS have the trip data, environmental data, maintenance recorder, or automation control system? Those all sound like awesome features I'd like to use, but I do not have them on my MMCS, unless I'm totally looking in the wrong section.

 

[Don]

You probably needed worry too much about the maintenance recorder either

"Maintenance recorder including oil changes, oil, air, and fuel filter changes, tire rotation, and brake service."

We don't have oil, air or fuel filters (other than the one for cabin air, which seems to last for years) we can't do tire rotations because the front and rear sizes are different and with the regenerative braking, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if some of us don't get 100K from the factory brake pads

Don

 

[acensor]

...and with the regenerative braking, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if some of us don't get 100K from the factory brake pads

Don

I get 60,000 miles on brake pads on our Subaru Forester.
I truly would not be surprised if I get over 150,000 on EV's pads.
May not live long enough to see that day. ;-)

 

[RobbW]

Okay, so a couple of updates on some of the questions I've been having. First, I was able to get the gauge to remain on my preferred display and not default back to the main odometer after 10 seconds. I'm not sure what the issue was before. Maybe I had left the gauge on a display that isn't meant to be constantly displayed such as the dashboard illumination setting or the mileage for the next maintenance check. At lunch, I put it on the outside temp and it stayed there, even when I started her up again to go home after work. I put the RR display on for the drive home, and it remained on, too. So, yea! I'm happy with that now.

Next, I got a call back from my sales associate, Jim, after emailing him this morning regarding my other issues. Turns out there was a simple reason I wasn't seeing all the options/features for the premium sound system on the MMCS. When Jim called, he apologized that he hadn't thought of this reason before when I had first emailed him. Turns out the MMCS manual is generic for all Mitsubishi models that have an MMCS unit in them. The manual I received is not specific to the i-MiEV. So, all these extra features that should be available with the Premium Sound System are not available in the i-MiEV. The Premium Sound System referred to in the MMCS manual is actually the 700+ watt Rockford Fosgate system that is available in some of the other Mitsu models. So, yea! I'm happy with that now, too. Although, it would have been neat to have a few of those other features such as the trip and environmental data, plus the advanced sound controls.

Jim assured me that the dirt/stains on the headliner in the rear cabin will be cleaned when I bring my car in to have the rear parking sensors installed. As, too, will be the buzzing/rattling passenger-side speaker. He said it sounds like maybe a fitting had loosened up or something.

So, it seems as though all my questions have been answered and my issues resolved, or will be resolved soon. I'm a happy camper and am absolutely loving my new car. Although, I am starting to become a little self conscious as the i-MiEV does tend to draw a lot of attention and WTF looks from other drivers and passersby.

Well, now it's back to reading the owners manual again before heading to bed. Need to get a better understanding of how all this neat stuff works!

 

[MLucas]

Now that you are driving it for your daily commuter, how is the mileage working out? How much do you have at the end of the day?

 

[alohart]

RobbW, now that you've taken delivery of your i-MiEV, I'm confident that most of your pre-purchase concerns have been put to rest as they were for us. Like you, we purchased our i-MiEV sight-unseen, but in our case, from halfway around the world.

Last fall, while sitting in our apartment in Uppsala, Sweden, we decided that while at our apartment in Honolulu, walking, riding the bus, and renting cars was just too time-consuming and resulted in our being unable to take advantage of too many last-minute opportunities. So we decided to buy a new car. In 2009, we had shipped the most efficient mass-produced gasoline car ever made, our 2000 Honda Insight hybrid, from Honolulu to Uppsala where it is ideal for taking long road trips where gasoline is very expensive. We have been made aware of the problems storing an ICE car in an apartment parking stall for as long as 6 months while we are away from Uppsala and wanted to avoid those problems in Honolulu. Doing what's necessary to prepare for storage and to take out of storage is not easy or even allowed in most apartment parking spaces.

My brother had purchased a Leaf and was very happy with his purchase, so we decided to not consider an ICE car for our Honolulu apartment. We wanted to purchase a new EV immediately upon returning to Honolulu on 29 December, just in the nick of time to qualify for the $7,500 Federal tax credit in 2012. But what to buy? Our only choices for a highway-capable EV were the Leaf and the i-MiEV.

The Leaf is a bigger car than we needed. We didn't need 5-passenger capacity, but we did value cargo capacity. We prefer lean and mean over heavy and big. Compared with the i-MiEV, the Leaf is about 700 pounds heavier, almost 2 feet longer, and 7 inches wider, so we decided to buy an i-MiEV even though we had only seen a few European versions and had never sat in any i-MiEV. We took a taxi directly from the Honolulu airport to the Honolulu Mitsubishi dealer to complete the sale and pick up our new i-MiEV sight-unseen! We drove it to our apartment where we had no way to charge it. But 7 months later, we haven't paid a cent for electricity instead using one of 6 free charging stations in a large shopping center a 10-minute walk away from our apartment.

Our i-MiEV is ideal for Oahu where we can drive almost completely around the island without a recharge, but we rarely make this drive. I hope that you will be as happy with your quick choice as we have been with ours.

 

[RobbW]

Now that you are driving it for your daily commuter, how is the mileage working out? How much do you have at the end of the day?

Well, Friday was the first day of commuting with my new i. Starting out the day with nearly a full charge, by the time I got home and tucked her the garage for the night, I had about 16 miles left on the RR gauge. Knowing I was going to have a full day of running around today, I hooked her up to the L2 for the night. Once we were ready to head out and about today, we started with a full charge and 79 miles on the RR.

On a full charge, I should have just enough range for our daily workweek commute and miscellaneous running around. However, I am glad to have the L2 EVSE as I'm still not confident that I'd get enough of a charge each night to keep me going the whole of the next day using the standard L1 EVSE.