Thank you for the welcome. It's great to be here.
evnow said:
Welcome! Are you planning to buy a Leaf ?
Not sure yet - here in the UK we have a much larger selection of electric cars available. Our Mitsubishi iMiEV goes back at the end of the year so we'll have to replace it with something. I'm thinking of either a Nissan LEAF or a Renault Fluence ZE as a main family car, or possibly a Mitsubishi iMiEV if I can get a good deal. I'm also planning to replace the G-Wiz with the forthcoming REVA NXR Intercity which really is a cracking car - I'm lucky enough to be the only person outside of REVA and their dealer network to have driven one and I was really impressed.
mwalsh said:
Welcome! How are you doing on range with the iMiev? Does yours have the bigger or smaller of the two battery packs?
There is only one battery pack option for the Mitsubishi iMiEV in Europe. The range is officially 100 miles.
The range on the iMiEV, as with all electric cars, depends very much on how you use it. Officially, the iMiEV has a similar range to the Nissan LEAF and quite frankly, most people will be struggling to get anywhere near 100 miles with the iMiEV. A more realistic range is 70-80 miles, but this can fall during the winter. Temperatures dropped to around -4°F (-20°c) this winter in the UK and in those sorts of temperatures, the range dropped to around 50-55 miles.
For those sorts of ranges, you're looking at a top speed of around 60mph and gentle acceleration. If you race it, your range will drop to around 50 miles.
Incidentally, whilst the Mitsubishi iMiEV range really drops quite significantly in the winter, the range on my little G-Wiz doesn't drop anywhere near as much - I get a drop of around 5-8 miles in the middle of winter. That is probably because the G-Wiz has a very efficient battery heating system which does work reasonably well.
Azrich said:
Have you ever run out of power and needed someone to come to help?
I've never run out of power, even though I have tried a couple of times in the Mitsubishi iMiEV: I kept driving it after the computer told me I had zero range. After about five miles it switched into limp home mode, so I limped home (another two miles away). It wasn't a problem.
Everyone worries about running out of juice, but it is very unlikely to happen in real life. REVA did some research a couple of years back and they discovered that electric car owners were no more likely to run out of range than a driver of a gasoline car was likely to run out of fuel.
Azrich said:
What do you do if you want to go further than the range of your vehicles?
Quite often I'll take the train. For longer journeys it is often quicker, more convenient and cheaper than driving.
I have also charged up at my destination. Recently I had to drive from Coventry to Oxford to do a talk about electric vehicles and use my car for test runs, and then drive back. The total distance was 120 miles. No problem: I drove down there and plugged the car in whilst I was preparing for my talk. I then gave the test drives and plugged the car back in whilst I did my presentation. Then I drove home with plenty of charge to spare. Total time plugged in at Oxford: about three hours.
However, I also have to be honest and say I cheat: I still have a gasoline car on my driveway. Forgive me Father for I have sinned. In my defense, it doesn't get used much and is quietly rusting away. The reason we've kept it is that the Mitsubishi iMiEV is only ours for a trial period after which we have to give the car back. The long term plan is to ditch the gasoline car completely and if we need one, we'll hire one.
The local car hire place is two miles from where I live, they're open 24/7 and they'll deliver the car to me within 15-20 minutes.
Azrich said:
Have you ever had to have any of the battery cells replaced?
Not in the Mitsubishi, which is only about six months old, but we have in the G-Wiz. The G-Wiz uses lead acid batteries and they need replacing every 3 years or so. Last time I needed a set of batteries, I bought some second hand for £55 (about $80). After eighteen months they're getting to the end of their useful life so I'm on the scrounge for another set