imiev - the first electric shite?

[txe4]

The Misubishi i-MiEV is an electric version of the Mitsubishi i kei car.

 

It was sold here by Mitsubishi, and also rebadged with very minor changes as the Peugeot Ion and Citroen C-Zero.

 

 

I'm here to argue that this thread is allowed in the main forum, and not Modern Shite:

• They are SHITE. Rattly, tinny, tiny, plasticy, cheap. It's a proper mingebag motoring experience.
• Proper old-fashioned RUST.
• If you get the Citroen version, the interior is BROWN.
• It is TINY. It will turn around on a road that my "proper" car barely fits down. 
• REAR WHEEL DRIVE. Bigger tyres at the back than the front, and traction control, in an attempt to make it "boring" - but it will stick its arse out if you drive like enough of a twat.
• Although you still need to put down £4k to get one, there is no tax or pez to buy, power cost is fuck-all cos it's so tiny and slow (think 2p/mile), and unless you're unlucky there's not much to repair, so the total running costs are right down there with base model Corsas.
• With 49kW/180Nm, and a throttle curve set with preserving the life of the skinny tyres, and gossamer-thin drivetrain components as #1 priority, it's SLOW. There's none of your LEAF/Zoe traffic light grand prix action - you mash the pedal and 2 seconds later it starts to shift properly.
• Although the aircon is ferocious, the heater is a complete joke, being both highly thirsty and barely warm, guaranteeing you'll FREEZE YOUR ARSE OFF IN WINTER.

 

Lots of it is pleasingly old-fashioned. For example, the rear brakes are drums, and the ignition is straight off the pez version, including having to turn the key to "start" and let go in order to "start" driving. The stereo, although having "modern" features like bluetooth and (broken, of course) iphone integration, is a DIN unit - something we haven't had in a car for more than 10 years. Dash is very simple - you don't even get a clock.

 

The heating controls are beautiful in their simplicity. Knob for fan speed, knob for temperature, knob for setting where the air goes. Plenty of airflow is provided - it cools feet far better than a £150k top-of-the-range Tesla, and you don't have to take your eyes off the road and twat about with a screen to get it going.

 

A very bizarre PSA afterthought is fitted - somewhere in its guts is a mobile phone, and holding down a "Citroen" button on the dash will call someone at Citroen who is supposed to summon assistance if you have broken it or crashed it. Another button next to it, this one red, will supposedly call the emergency services... I need to find which fuse turns this crap off, as it continues (spookily) with the car powered off completely and everything dead. Embarassing having to tell the Citroen emergency chap that you don't want to talk to him, got him by mistake, and don't know how to hang up... modern tech, but 200% SHITE.

 

There is some stuff that can go wrong and would really ruin your day - aircon compressor failure will stop you from charging and the part is £1500; battery pack failure, although rare, would write the vehicle off, the brake pipes are routed above the battery so changing them is a battery-off job (£600+), and parts availability isn't brilliant despite the relatively recent end of sales. Their reputation for reliability is pretty good though - certainly better than the notoriously flakey Zoe or the hilariously-BL Tesla.

 

It's not crusty yet, but there are clear signs underneath that it's not going to last indefinitely. Surface rust is everywhere (though fortunately not the brake lines) - as others noted in the Kei cars thread, the rustproofing on these low-end Japanese things is not the best.

 

They're mostly pretty old now, and the battery tech is old [pedantic point - there are 2 batteries available, a larger one that degrades faster, and a newer smaller one that supposedly degrades slower] so a significant amount of the original battery capacity is gone forever. Mine claims 73% with a CAN bus dongle connected and app running; the guessometer still says 60 miles when charged to full, but the first couple of "pips" on the "petrol" gauge vanish very quickly. The realistic range for one is probably 40 miles in winter, 50 in summer, driven moderately and avoiding >50mph. The battery is tiny so it's entirely realistic to use most of the battery in the morning doing schoolruns and errands, then charge most of the way back to full before doing evening schoolruns, even on the 10A granny cable. It'll take 14A from a proper charging point, which I should probably get.

 

You really can't do long journeys at all - it's tall, and using lots of throttle is inefficient (the faster you drain a battery, the less it has to give), so keeping up with even HGVs on the motorway is ruinous for range. It's for local journeys. A motorway trip would generally require a charge at every other service area passed - in some places, at every single one - so a single charger failure on the (appalling) "Electric Highway" would ruin your day. Getting one home from a distant purchase is not simple and probably best done on a trailer.

 

Despite the slowness and shiteness it is huge fun to drive. You're higher up than you think so you can see quite well, it steers well (now the ditchfinders have the usual EV "5 psi over the recommended" in rather than being halfway to flat), you never have to worry about gears, the stereo sounds great, and the awesome turning circle and tiny size make any kind of narrow gaps or parking a joy.

 

Why? I can't quite justify it financially - we own a pair of thoroughly acceptable cars already - but one of them is too wide, big, valuable, and "bling"

for stuff like going to Lidl and doing the school run, especially on the tiny narrow roads here. The other isn't automatic.

 

I enjoy the narrowness when passing things on tiny roads - the "jesus he'll never get through there!" look on other drivers' faces. The cheapness, batteredness, and tiredness of it means the shiter's total relaxation in the face of touch parking, carpark dings, bashed wingmirrors, etc. Have really missed that having modernz. I also feel like I'm not advancing the date of cambelt changes or headgasket failure, decreasing the value of it, or wasting petrol, when going on a "pointless" journey. Very pleasant. Wife acceptance factor is very high thanks to high seating position, small size, small turning circle, automatic, and "meh I don't care if you bash it" relaxation.

 

 

 

[DVee8]

We have a couple of these as pool cars at work.Can't remember which version Mitsi i think.

I have driven them a couple of times for hospital runs.

I remember as high riding and slow,with a short range.

So shite to be.

[egg]

assume the winter heater is poor to preserve range?

[Dick Longbridge]

20 readers are currently reading this, so you’ve caught our attention.

They certainly do seem shite, in an equivalent way to 1980’s Ladas. I guess the key difference is this little thing is clean*.

Having weighed up your thorough review, I reckon a Leaf would shit all over one of these, but I guess the I Kev* is infinitely cheaper.

If I needed a tiny city car, I’d buy an Aygo, without a shadow of a doubt.

 

Edit: Friggin’ autocorrect has altered the name of the car as above*.

Leaving it as is though, as I Kev could almost work.

[Jim Bell]

So its French.

[txe4]

A LEAF is a much, much better car than an imiev. No question.

 

You need to put down a lot more money to get a LEAF, and the bottom end of the market are all gen1s with badly degraded batteries.

 

We're a bit "BTDTGTTS" having had a LEAF for a year, and I wanted something where I wouldn't stress about damage - which was an issue with £10k of LEAF that we always planned to resell.

[egg]

Personally, I can't see any other way for me to be in an electric car in the next 5 years, unless I import a battery lease free Twizy from Norway...

 

And I think almost all of us draw the line at a g-wiz...

[spartacus]

Looks weapons-grade to me.

I can definitely see the attraction, I occasionally glance longer than I should at various electric and hybrid cars on the bay.

Looking forward to updates.

[Dave_Q]

I wasn't onboard until I saw that the charging wire looks like a Lidl bargain bucket trickle charger that's been dragged down the road. 

 

Verdict: would (if £500)

[Craig the Princess]

And I think almost all of us draw the line at a g-wiz...

Almost...

[Sigmund Fraud]

Crikey, I had completely forgotten that those things ever existed... And that comes from someone who recalls such magnificent electric obscurities as the Kewet El-Jet :

 

[Felly Magic]

Hard to believe G-Wizshite are still around £2k, even for a sightly scruffy one

[Talbot]

I quite often consider the sense* of an electric car, as like many people I have about a 30 min commute, which is around 30 miles total daily mileage. Add a bit for cocking about here and there to shops etc, and you're looking at 50 miles a day as a general maximum. So, I could get my employer to install a charging point at work, and do ALL my charging on someone else's electricity. Lovely.

 

However, the actual vehicle is still an issue:

 

G-wizz. No chance. Tiny, dangerous and look kak. See also any other EV from 10+ years ago.

i-meievei. Better, but still disasterously slow and looks ridiculous. Given that my commute is a mix of country roads, big hills, lanes and other NSL stuff, I think the range would be *much* lower than advertised.

Zoe/Leaf etc. Still too expensive. That said, a friend has recently bought a Leaf with the larger 30kwh battery in great condition for less than I can find anything on the bay of snot, so prices are looking better.

Electric converted vehicles. Maybe. Still pricy though, and many of them lack regen-braking, which would be essential for me to get decent range given the 2-mile uphill and 2-mile downhill section of my commute.

Teslas : £fuckme.

 

So I've often wondered about doing a self-build. Still very bloody expensive for a decent size motor, motor controller and half-decent-size battery.

 

Will they ever get cheaper?

[Datsuncog]

Quite coincidentally, I happened upon a white Citroen C-Zero (on a 12 plate) only yesterday afternoon - was meaning to pull the SD card from my dashcam and upload a still of it for the 'Cars You Didn't Know Existed' thread. It looked bloody awful.

 

I also snapped a local-plate Mitsubishi Imiev badged version way back in July 2008, apparently several years before they went on general sale. Weird.

 

I'd say they're shite.

[egg]

Classic cars can be converted for about £10k ish from what I've read.

 

If that comes down a bit...

 

Maybe something sound and rustproofed could be the way forward.

[Datsuncog]

On 5/29/2018 at 12:57 PM, egg said:

Classic cars can be converted for about £10k ish from what I've read.

If that comes down a bit...

Maybe something sound and rustproofed could be the way forward.

 

Fully electric DeLorean DMC-12, built by an acquaintance of Mrs DC, as it happens. The car was sourced through her uncle and all.

It's not the first electric DeLorean, but this is the inevitable outcome when you're foolish enough to give a research grant to an electrical engineer who's a massive Back To The Future nut...

https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/electricdelorean/about/

[jonny69]

I'm glad you posted this in this part of the forum. I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.

 

I pass one regularly on the M1 on my way into work and it looks BARE JOKES ridiculous, though I admire the owner for having it. I always thought these were a bit of an odd concept for our roads, but now I know it's a Kei car derivative, suddenly it makes a lot more sense.

[SierraMikeHotel]

I once tried to hire a C-Zero (through Co-Wheels car club) but it wasn't available for some reason and I was massively disappointed to be given a hybrid Auris estate instead.

 

There must be something very wrong with me...

[mk2_craig]

The organisation I work for took ten Ions on a 3 year lease in early 2013. Thats been renewed at least once and as far as I know they're all still with us. I think we must be trying to get our moneys worth, the original agreement was probably based on a list price of almost 30 grand each!!

 

 

I agree with all of the pros and cons listed above. The lack of clock annoys me though I suppose you could always chuck in any old DIN size radio with that feature. I love being able to lower the window to listen for approaching traffic when trying to exit a minor road with crap visibility.

 

Seldom for sale but the last one I saw a few months back was 4995 with hardly any mileage.

[martc]

Now this is the first electric shite - the Jamais Contente (the 'Never Satisfied'), 1899. It was the first vehicle in the world to exceed 62mph and consequently held the land speed record (at 65.8 mph). It was powered by two direct drive 25 kW motors. The body was made from a special alloy called 'partinium' (aluminium, tungsten and magnesium). It was shite due to the exposed chassis spoiling the streamlining and the equally high drag driver who had great difficulty staying on board and keeping it under  control. He must have had balls made from partinium.

[RoadworkUK]

I've always loved that image. Looks like a composite that Terry Gilliam would have knocked up for Monty Python.

[busmansholiday]

So, I could get my employer to install a charging point at work, and do ALL my charging on someone else's electricity.

Except that the taxman has already thought of that and it's counted as a 'benefit in kind' so you'll get clobbered with increased tax.

[txe4]

Except that the taxman has already thought of that and it's counted as a 'benefit in kind' so you'll get clobbered with increased tax.

BIK on EV charging was abolished in April this year.

 

It was always easy to avoid anyway with a token charge for providing power - which could just be a charity box in reception and a sign. The BIK on £1 of electricity a day is very low on HMRC's priority list.

[Lankytim]

Cant you stick a petrol generator in the boot and run it from that to increase the range?

[Fabergé Greggs]

Electric mirrors? They must eat up some juice!

 

If it was a choice between adjusting them or getting to my destination I'd just sit outside my house and get them perfect. 

[dollywobbler]

I really like them, though that may be because I've never driven one. Range the main issue for me. In winter, I could see it struggling to get me to town and back given the terrain.

[txe4]

Cant you stick a petrol generator in the boot and run it from that to increase the range?

The boot is tiny. I don't think even one of those 800W generators that garden centers sell for £50 would go in.

 

The granny cable wants 10A so you need something that will do 2500W. Don't know if the granny cable (and, more to the point, the onboard rectifier) would object to mucky square-wave AC either immediately or after a while.

 

You can't drive and charge at the same time - car will do one or the other.

[Tayne]

I really like them, though that may be because I've never driven one. Range the main issue for me. In winter, I could see it struggling to get me to town and back given the terrain.

How far away is town?

 

There’s a lady near my work with one of these, it must be healthier that TXe’s example as she claims a winter range of 50miles in rural Aberdeenshire on winter tyres.

I have seen her doing 60ish on the dual carriageway.

[STUNO]

I quite like the idea of a proper American electric......click here 

 

http://classicdriver.co.nz/1957-ford-fairlane-500-skyliner-electrifying-a-classic/

 

It may have been very expensive to buy and convert.

[somewhatfoolish]

So its French.

This is a japanese exchange student in the Sorbonne, with racist stereotype buck teeth and NHS specs. Epically merde, I nearly bought one before the Poojoe of electrons revealed itself to me. I r jelus of the brownness of dash.

 

Hard to believe G-Wizshite are still around £2k, even for a sightly scruffy one

They pop up for less but invariably have shagged batteries, given most of the cheap ones are lead acid this gives the opporchancity to swap them for ZOMGflammable Li-ion or nonflammable LiFePO for shits and giggles.