Thinking of buying...I have questions from actual owners...

[prizedperformance]

Hello Everyone! Thanks for any words of advice you can give me! :]

I'm in Oregon...thinking of buying, but I have a lot of questions since I've never owned a hybrid or EV:
1. Did you have a charging station installed at your house? If yes, how much did it cost, did you use an electrician, and is it worth it? If no, how long does it take to charge with a regular plug in?
2. Are there special precautions or preparations for cold weather? I do not have a garage...but I do have covered parking...
3. I live in a very hilly area...does the iMiev do ok on hills? Does it use a log of energy?
4. Have you used charging stations in parking lots? Good? Bad? Ugly?
5. Was it easy to deal with the tax rebates?

Thanks, again! :]

 

[aarond12]

Hello Everyone! Thanks for any words of advice you can give me! :]

1. I did get a 240V charging station, but only because I wanted to be able to charge from a nearly flat battery to full overnight. The 120V charger won't quite do it. Close, but not quite. The 240V charger means that I can go 3-4 days without charging. The 120V charger would work fine if I charged every day. Having done plenty of electrical work in my day, I did the wiring myself.
2. Cold weather isn't a big deal for battery longevity, though it affects the battery charge. You can see a 10-20% decrease in range in very cold weather. The i-MiEV has the ability to pre-heat and pre-cool its cabin when the car is connected to AC power. The driver's side seat heater is an energy efficient way to stay warm. Pre-heating doesn't warm up as much on the 120V charger versus the 240V charger.
3. The torque of EVs is well-suited for hills. As with any vehicle, going up hills will take more power.
4. I used one public charger ever, just to try it. It worked as advertised. Use apps on your smart phone to locate charging stations and report when some are out-of-order.
5. Tax rebates are an entire thread here. http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=11680

The search function sucks on this site. Instead, use Google (or DuckDuckGo!) and format your query like: site:myimiev.com "tax credit"

 

[prizedperformance]

Thanks! :]

 

[olagon]

If your usual commute is 60 miles or less, this car may be perfect. I live in Hawaii in a very hilly area. This little bugger has no problem at all and feels torque given the 66 horsepower engine.

I would recommend upgrading the charger for about $400 and you can then charge from flat to full in 7 hours via a standard 220 socket you may already have or about 14 hours from flat to full using a 110 socket.

Public charging stations in Hawaii are either free (easy to use) or require a dongle (I don't use them). Because there are several companies that have charging stations, you need a few dongles to support all of them in my area. I don't need or plan to use paid charging stations. There are lots of free ones in Hawaii and I don't usually need to go 60+ miles per trip.

I have pushed the car on a 65 mile trip and it made it home with the battery on empty

Never again will I consider a gas powered car after buying this gem.

 

[prizedperformance]

Thanks for the info! Although, I think that living in Hawaii makes driving any car enjoyable!

By 'upgrading the charger' do you mean in the car or at home? The car will come with a regular charge option and a 'quick charge' option, but there are hardly any public chargers that are available with the quick charge option in my area...so I was thinking of installing one at home...I've researched it a little, but I get seriously confused by all the different terms...ie, 'level 1', 'level 2', 'fast charge', 'quick charge'...

 

[Don]

Level 1 is charging using 120 volts AC - A standard household outlet. Level 2 is the same, but using a 240 volt outlet. The 'charger' for both L1 and L2 is built into the car. You connect it to A/C power using an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) and that's what some are calling the 'charger'

You can ship your OEM EVSE (which is rated at 8 amps @ 120 VAC) off to California to have it upgraded. When you get it back, it will charge at 12 amps using either 120 or 240 volts. 120 will recharge an empty battery in 14 hours, 240 cuts that in half to only 7 hours. If you have 120 and 240 outlets available, the upgraded EVSE is all the 'charger' you'd need. Check with a local electrician to see what having the outlets installed will cost you, assuming you can't do that yourself

The 'Quick Charge' option (L3) is another animal all together - It's an expensive piece of equipment and none of us has that installed at home - You just don't need L3 at home. It's designed for quick top offs when you're out and about. If you don't have a public quick charger anywhere in your local area, that's an option on the car you will probably never use. Using high voltage, high amperage DC, it will recharge the car to 80% full in half an hour, but buying one would probably cost you $10K. You can easily recharge overnight using either 120 or 240 volts

Don

 

[prizedperformance]

My brain hurts! :shock:

Thanks so much for the info! SUPER helpful! :]

 

[BillThompsonMIEV]

This is an answer to your question 5. Look at Line 44 of your 2012 tax return 1040. That number shows your tax liability. Then look at Line 54 of your return. That is the sum of your 2012 tax credits. Your tax credit for the Miev would be entered on line 53. The bottom line is the following: if line 44 is greater than $7,500 and the sum of lines 47 through 53 is less than $7,500, you will get the full tax credit of $7,500. PM me with any questions.