Hello there,
I just picked-up our new I MIev at the Mitsbuish dealer in El Cajon. There are two other dealers in the San Diego area offerring them. I was the first one at the El Cajon dealer.
We have a second “gasser” for long distance traveling. The MIev is strictly for around town. So far, it works very well, and seems comfortable zipping around, doing shopping chores, etc. I have a 120 V charger, which came with the car. The charger seems ok, but works very slowly - about 20 hours for a zero to full charge. They recommed the 240 volt charger by Eaton, which recharges much more quickly. Have to have an electrician run a 240 line near the car. Plus, the dealer will pick-up the cost of Best Buys Geek Squad, who will evaluate and make recomendations for the 240 V charger install.
I also recently completed a solar project for our roof. Twelve panels will easily bring our bill to zero. I’m not sure how the MIev will impact our usage. I have a microinverter for each panel, so adding up to five more panels would be no problem.
I hope this forum will be a good sharing place for MIev owners, as there is almost nothing “out there” now. This car is VERY NEW! AAA insurance is having trouble writing a policy for it, as they have no data on it, and it’s not listed in their computer. I’m sure they will manage to write the policy, though.
Info to share: Here is a breakdown on its price - Sticker was 30K. Taxes and registration brought it 33K. I elected to take their “Extended bumper to bumper warrantee”. (Usually I pass on that, but this is a brand new model and technology, and I’m sure plenty of problems will crop-up in it’s expected 10 year lifetime). The warrantee was 2K, bringing the total to 35K. There will be a 7.5 K tax credit, plus a $2K California rebate, to bring my net cost down to about 25K.
Psyfly
It is awsome that you are one of the first i car drivers out there. I work at a mitsubishi dealer in the chicago area and we have just started delivary here. several have gone to a company called i-go, which is a rental company that rents cars by the hour. they are in the process of building solar charging stations for their i cars…how cool is that. please keep us updated on how things go with yours!
As to 240V Chargers - don’t forget to look at a clipper creek model, that could save you about a $1000 or more over some of the other chargers! Interesting enough - my wife said she likes the iMiEV better than the LEAF, at first glance!
Website = {moderated}
15 Years in the Field, 13,000 units, 25 EV models Tested and Counting; Choose the most respected
name in the industry!
Psyfy, so you’ve had your i-MiEV for almost 2 years now. How goes it? How do you feel about the price reductions? $13,000 for a '14. Not bad! I live most of the time in Melbourne Australia. I paid $25,000 A dollars for my '12. Hey, I’m not complaining, before April '13, Mitsu was trying to sell them down under for a list price of $48,800!!! I’m in Utah right now, flying back mid Feb. and I’ll pick mine up when I return.
I would be interested to hear how you are getting on with your i-MiEV and what kind of savings you are seeing.
In response to an inquiry, I am getting along very well with the Miev. I’m sure that you know I also have a solar system as well. The Miev is driven daily for an average of 30 miles per day and recharged to 100% at nite. No problems at all with the Miev. It has never seen a gas station. We also have a Honda CRV for long trips, but it is rarely used. Love the electric, and would never go back to ICE.
Psyfly,
Great to hear of your positive experience with the i-MiEV. I too have a solar array. Australia WAS much like Europe, giving incentives to purchase and paying a whopping 66 cents a kwh for juice sent up grid. I’ll be making positive cash flow in another 5 years, until the program ends, in 2014. What this means is, it is financially hard to justify recharging the i-MiEV using solar during the day. Off peak recharging can be done for 17 cents a kWh. More convenient anyway. Any issue at all with the i-MiEV? How does your significant other like it? I wasn’t all that serious when I took a test drive because I didn’t think Muh Luvly would like it . . . to small. Surprise, she liked it. Thought about it over a weekend and took the plunge. I just don’t like the idea of paying twice as much for a car two years older! But prices in Australia are generally higher.