We bought an iMiEV for our second car

In May we bought a 2012 iMiEV to accompany our 2008 Prius. We absolutely love this little car. It is a super second car for any family. In terms of size and overall functionality it beats the Smart electric any time. It costs us about C$2.40 per 100km. We charge it on a 240V "dryer plug" at night. It costs about $24 Ontario dollars per month on our hydro bill. I figure we save close to $75/mo compared to buying gas for our old Corolla.

We are just trying to work out the best way to maximize the distance per charge while the heat is on. It looks that if you are smart, heat only as much as you need, you can go a long way even in the winter. Mind you we did not get real cold days as of yet.

If I have any beef the operation of the fob, controlling the pre-heat function, is very poorly explained in the manual. Inside it is really 'plasticky' - looks and feels very basic. Still, with AC, heated seat and freezing road alert (just discovered a couple of days ago!) it is a good package for the price. Most of your money is spent on the battery!

 

Thanks for the notes and thoughts.

Yes, we keep the "i" in the garage where the charger is. Even though it is kind of obvious, I never thought about 'pre-heating' the battery. Smart idea. Thanks for shaking me up! I still have trouble to figure out exactly how the stupid FOB works for preheating.

As the winter will get stuck here for the next few months we will garage our "i" as the roads get snow covered or sloshy. I have no snows for this car and I don't intend to get any. BUT if I would I would consider putting Nokian WRG3 "all weather" tires on all wheels. I read about these and went out on a limb and had them installed in my 2008 Prius. So far, after our first snow fall last week I am very happy with these tires.

As for range. Summer it is safely 100km, even with some parts of our daily drive at 100km/h AND with AC used as required. After fully charged the trip computer figures between 115 and 130(!) km range.

As for this time of the year well, I was playing around with the settings. MAX HEAT (at full blower speed) can get the trip computer estimate down to 55 km. But using the seat heater AND being smart I am quite certain that one can manage around 70 km per charge at 80% of the time - lol. Keep telling my wife to keep her eye on the trip wizard instead on the outside temp reading. The trip wizard adjusts the estimated distance left as you change the heating parameters, almost instantly.

Charging time using the 240V 30A charger is around 3-4 hours to full from 1/2 to slightly below 3/4. I think the estimates Mitsubishi gives for charge times from 'empty' are pretty accurate; 7 hrs at 240V. Look seriously, when was the last time you drove into a gas station on fumes?

So far we are quite taken by this little car.

 

Makeover and a new name.
In the meantime love it or leave it. For us it does the job we bought it for.

 

Our "i" does exactly what it was designed to do. It is an excellent runabout. She carried home for me a small fridge and a new BBQ. You could never do that with an electric Smart. We get lots of smiles on the road and on parking lots. Excellent little toy - we love it. The fact that we kept her in the garage between Xmas and the end of March helped with the winter/cold weather issues. And not everyone can afford to do that. However, by experimenting with cold weather driving before Xmas we found that if the car is preheated and by setting the heat only a couple of notches up one can push the 50km winter range to around 70. The seat heater helps a lot.

Everyone, who has a chance should take one for a spin. The "i" is surprisingly fun to drive. But regardless, if it does not meet your needs it is not a car for you.