Making of the Mitsubisih i-MiEV Electric Car (Part 1)

[@ecologicalyoutube]

I bought this Mitsubishi in the United Kingdom, Birmingham. It was registered December 2009 and has been driven around the entire globe by two French enthusiasts. Mine has HID LED headlights and has covered almost 30,000 miles. The only maintenance has been replacement tyres and windscreen washer fluid top ups. It can be recharged via solar PV and rapid charged at motorway service stations in 25 minutes. I average 65miles per 16kWh. Fuel has cost 250 pounds per 10,000 miles = an 80% saving gas.

[@blueyedboymrdeath]

Have owned and driven one of these extensively for 7 months. We love it. Fun to drive with quick pickup (motor coupled directly to wheels, great jackrabbit starts). Quiet inside. Actual range off the highway is about 80 miles. Heated front seats, heated outside mirrors. Fold down back seats. We charge it overnight at 12A, 120V. Downsides are poorer safety profile of rear-seats and decreased range in the New England winter, but that only affects longer runs. (We bought a 12v heated lap blanket to decrease battery drain by running the heater.) For a city car, it's a great buy (~$23K), and up to $7500 Federal tax rebate. No, haven't seen another on the road yet. It's a well-kept secret.

[@toyotaprius79]

It's nice to revisit to this. It really shows that the development for the i-MiEV was its money's worth. While some have definitely said that Mitsubishi pretty much sent itself down the river as understandably the i-MiEV didn't perform too well in sales, without it, we would've never seen the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV which has been a hot commodity in only a few markets like Japan and The Netherlands that has put a lot of strain on manufacturing supply. It's nice to know that Mitsubishi won't give up on trying to improve its plug-in cars. They will likely see the return of their investment.

[@fiddlerJohn]

Thanks for the video. My iMiEV is giving me 150 MPGe. It's working for me. Skip the hybrid. Go for the BEV. Great car. I'm impressed.

[@Nichen]

This car started the modern production of electric cars so guys, have some respect. (I know EV1 came in 1996 but it was older technology)

[@ChrisyLuxembourg]

Thank's for the great video. I've got my i-MiEV a half year ago, very fast accelerating and a smooth driving! I drive a distance of 120-135Km every day, but for a single charge it's costs me 2€ only! Now my wife wanna have one, we decided to take a 2nd i-MiEV. One "combustion" car has been trashed.....

[@rufus0moobajesu631]

Pls how can I get this in my country?

[@michaelchownyk5255]

Solar powered update on my IMiev is as follows: I have driven 100000 km and on my second battery which was replaced for free and now I can safely say it is the most reliable car I have ever driven. I recharge my imiev with 100% off grid solar power and my dream has come true

[@albertogarcia3455]

I bought this car to take kids to school is about 40 mile per day street drive as a minimum , I pay for mine 9000.00 dollars 2012 model, when I do need a fast charge I pay only 10 cents per minute it takes about 18 - 25 minutes to recharge at 80% CHADEMO charger station (nrg brand) and sometimes no money to pay at free charge stations . I save a lots of money on gasoline fuel, NO MORE DMV SMOG TEST, NO MORE OIL CHANGE, NO MORE SENSORS TO REPLACE, CATALYTIC, TUNE UPS LIKE MY OTHERS CARS, ETC.... This nice car is intended MORE for city street driving than long distance driving. This nice car save me enough money that it pays for itself payments are 170.00 dollars per month I spent twice as much money on gas with my others cars. Also I bought an extra warranty bumper to bumper for 1100 dlls 50k miles or 5 years!!!, Thanks for reading.

[@waynetaylor5227]

This video is a little too slick and I own an i-Miev. So why did they not make the grade in the US market? Mine has 56000+ miles and very few problems. A little squirrely in cross winds. Winter tires for Minnesota.

[@michaelchownyk5255]

I have an iMiev and I love the car. I can drive to Toronto from Cambridge (72km) and charge at the CHAdeMO charger and in twenty minutes drive another 100Kms And then when I want to come back to Cambridge I hit the CHAdeMO again and I have enough to get home. I exceed its single pack charge and just keep driving it. once I put 400 Km in one day on it. now there is 26000Km on it.

[@blueyedboymrdeath]

It's amazing and annoying how many idiots who know zip about this car feel compelled to put it down. We've got one and love it also. How's yours holding up?

[@Georgatzis]

I hope You get one that the charger don t go but and the battery don t develop any problems! Imaging to give every 15 years 15000 dollars ! That's really Green driving!

[@yaCantGetFooledAgain]

how long have you had the car? how is the build quality? ride/suspension? those tiny tires and high weight worry me any cold weather experience?

[@dondakin1]

Great video. I love this little car. Mine is working out great and running it in the cold Montreal winters is actualy fine for the range we need in the winter. Another sucess for our iMiev. We really love driving this car.....

[@dondakin1]

@@Yob126 at update from me ?

[@dondakin1]

@@Yob126 mine is in great shape range has dropped to 80-100 km but the amount of quick chargers has increased dramatically since 2012 no complaints here

[@rufus0moobajesu631]

Pls how can I get this for business In my country??

[@gregnixon1296]

I have seen two of them recently. They are truly tiny.

[@TempoLOOKING]

Seen one in Iowa

[@MyBestSiteEver]

Like the concept. Makes me wonder why a PV panel wasn't installed in the roof, to reduce the need for charging stations. Flexible panels are available that would conform to the shape of the car.

[@blomegoog]

PV modules are only 20% efficient. you would need a rooftop the size of a bus, or your home, to make a dent in charging.

[@grantourismo0109]

is the solar pv hand portable ones?

[@tigerbody1]

@grantourismo0109- not enuf space on a car to power the drive or even charge the car enuf to make a difference. It is of course possible to charge an EV from regular PV charging system. It will take at least 24 panels.

[@toyotaprius79]

No. The i-MiEV especially at most accepts a 3.3kW or 16 amps charge at home. That charges its 16kWh battery in 5 to 6 hours. You'll only need two panels or more (presumably 1 metre squared) to solely charge the i-MiEV. That depends on the area where you live in. Germany or most of Northern Europe experiences over 2kWh of solar energy per meter squared. In areas like California, that rises to 6kWh and Arizona reaches to 8kWh. There are plenty of people who have 2, 3 or 4 panels on their roofs that supply all of the electricity they need, regardless I don't think it's possible to put 24 large panels on an average sized house's roof.

[@tigerbody1]

So then are you gonna mount 2 240 watt panels on this car?

[@JimmyLLL]

toyotaprius79 You have no idea on what you are talking about.

[@wigs1098]

Jimbob You are dead right, he doesn't!

[@Argoon1981]

If you saw the video above you would see that they made extensive testing on cold weather.

[@jim-elainestack5151]

not a bad vehicle. A 2nd larger battery option would be great. Active battery cooling they they have on their MiEV with the Fast Charge option should be on all models. A very efficient heat pump like the LEAF would be a very good move.

[@ZaiFuchigami]

The Leaf doesn't have a heat pump for the battery.

[@user-master36]

Оч.хороший автомобиль. Побольше бы завезли в Россию леворульных!

[@MartinHornansky]

Hi. I would like to ask whether anyone does not know where is located the horn and how to fix/change it in case it is not working. Thank you.

[@TempoLOOKING]

See car wizard

[@yaCantGetFooledAgain]

PV panels would increase the cost of an already expensive vehicle with a marginal return on investment. Also, the energy gained would be marginal - it would take many days of sunny weather to charge up. maybe someday, but just not practical yet

[@myflydream94]

thats`s today :)

[@blueyedboymrdeath]

Here are questions for the engineers at Mitsubishi, because I can't find an answer anywhere else, or a good contact email: The lithium battery has a heater that, according to my 2016 owners manual, kicks in when the car is connected to the charger and "the main drive lithium-ion battery temperature is between -22 °F (-30 °C) and -13 °F (-25 °C), the energy level gauge shows 4 bars or more of full charge" and the charger is connected. *** Questions *** -- If the battery is fully charged and the car remains connected to the charger, is the battery warmer still operating? -- If the car has sat in cold weather, not connected to the charger, and the battery temperature is between -22 °F (-30 °C) and -13 °F, what happens when one first starts driving? Does the battery warmer kick in? -- Yes, driving also warms the battery. How long does the battery take to warm up? -- Does regeneration work while the battery temperature is still very cold, or is it delayed until the battery is warmer (to prevent lithium plating at the anode while recharging a cold battery)?

[@ZaiFuchigami]

What about the heater?

[@yaCantGetFooledAgain]

umm... thanks for your unsolicited response but I was asking an owner for real world cold weather experience, not test results from a corporate PR video

[@blueyedboymrdeath]

Well, as an iMiev owner, I can tell you that running the heater and defroster will reduce your cold weather range markedly. We bought a 12V lap blanket, and between that and the heated seats, it's pretty comfortable. If it's 25 F or below, one needs to run the defroster at least intermittently, but that's not a cause of major range loss. It's certainly not as warm inside as a gas-powered car. Cold weather seems to cut about 25% off the range even without running the heater & defroster. And btw, in nice weather the range off the highway is around 80 miles, not 64.

[@callmeadmin]

iMiev is just too much ahead of its time with taking extreme measures on conserving energy with erasing fifth seat, making car more tear like, narrower, less weight, untrendy narrow tires etc. iMiev is the most economical car. Tesla just proves that wasting materials on look and size is more acceptable than uncommon look. Though price of iMiev shouldn't be that high as it is.

[@felix0817]

62 miles? I can barely go to SF one way...

[@sunansongjan1140]

Very good

[@rufus0moobajesu631]

I need this for business in my country

[@TempoLOOKING]

No it's 12 years old.

[@TempoLOOKING]

Less then 100 people in over 12 years. I seen one in Iowa

[@codydarling1196]

I'm all for a better future and more eco friendly technology But, I would not buy this.. Simply just because of the design, It may be for the most sufficient and aerodynamic causes but It looks very compact and I don't see my friends or family fitting in the back seats, also it looks egg with wheels u.u Is there any new designs since this was published in 2012?

[@blueyedboymrdeath]

The back seats are small, and not only that, are less safe in a collision, so that's a consideration if you often have multiple passengers. As to appearance, as it is said, "form follows function." But yeah, a prospective partner might be more impressed by a BMW.

[@blomegoog]

if you fold the rear seats, it has more cargo space than a Nissan LEAF. Its a very practical car.

[@Tore_Lund]

"On this road 25 times rougher than any real road". Guess Japanese engineers have never driven around in former East Germany?

[@bhaskarparam9711]

Wow TKS

[@bobeden5027]

Tesla Motors?

[@bhaskarparam9711]

Wow

[@Hogwit]

0:39 "The first time we made an electric vehicle, the car burned down." I love and drive electric, but I don't want yours!

[@charliekress23]

nice - they should make a video likes this one which shows the fuel efficiency of using electric and hybrid. youtube /watch?v=X4GCxTd3wB0

[@stevenwellesley]

Looks like a cheap tata nano with batteries. Tesla technology is the next level, nothing else is.

[@gregornz2020]

Rom is to small look something like a toy ña

[@Georgatzis]

Wait until your charger go bad or the battery pack! Then you need a charger for 4000 euro and a battery pack for 10.000 Euros! And don t think that you can buy a used because all are vin coded !!! So driving an imiev is more expensive as a normal small car after 15 years!And not to mention the parts for the car that are expensive like you have a old Ferrari. Thanks to Mitsubishi that show as once again what is to drive an electric car!! Green drive looks different !

[@Yahgiggle]

OK for a old lady this car would be awesome but really they have missed the mark with this car its just a joke 130k on one charge sucks and it looks like a bloody shopping cart yes they will sell some but i want to know who the hell they want to buy this thing this is why Tesla is doing so well because these pricks don't know who will buy this shit

[@djkenny1202]

+Deon Hamilton If you can afford a Tesla. Most of us can only dream of $75,000 car. No way. Even the lower cost one will be over 40 grand. This car, after all the incentives falls between 12,000-15,000 depending on origin purchased. I think they are great. I drove one and it was well made, comfortable, good leg room, decent handling and road feel, roomy fold down back seat as well as seat for 2 people.. used they are a freakin bargain too. Like 7-9 grand for one with less than 20k from 2013. The 50 miles to a charge is fantastic. Just recharge at home We seldom drive over 30 miles in a day, rarely. If we need to go on a big trip until the infra catches up.. just rent something. Only thing that stood out as not so great was the rear passenger side crash test results. The rest are quite good. That is all I have an issue with. No tune up. No oil change. No gas! SIGN. ME. UP.

[@Yahgiggle]

Don't get me wrong I love battery powered cars but this car is Shit yes some people will love it in the end sales will show how much its liked won't they

[@Yahgiggle]

i drove one it was very zippy but still stand by what i said above, and its all but dead now as i said sales will speak

[@blueyedboymrdeath]

Sales may have more to do with Mitsu's advertising budget, and also with American tastes for more car muscle. Unfamiliary and also "range anxiety" probably plays a role also. I go by my own experience, which agrees with other users' experience in the iMiev forum. In Europe, sales are better with the Peugot and Citroen versions. If someone is happy with something like a Ford Fiesta for local use, this is an alternative, with easier upkeep.

[@Yahgiggle]

like i said above some people will buy them, some people love this type of car you seem to be one of those people and you have the right to love it, but the people who don't also have the right not to love it and theres going to be more of us than you, if it looked like a Ford Fiesta i would be much more inclined to like it but the fact is to me and 1000s of others this car looks like a grannys shopping cart and we dont want to drive something looking like that, im more interested in cars that look like the model 3 and that's what im going to get, the Kia Soul EV is one i like too and if the model 3 wait ends up been way to long i might get that one.