I just went for a drive in the IMIEV

Post by **drowe67** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 03:13

A friend of my wife works at Mitsubishi Adelaide, and I was lucky enough to sit in the IMIEV while she test drove it. Followed up with a test drive of my EV for comparison. I also narrowly avoided the first EV-EV collision - the IMIEV nearly hit me in the car park!

Have blogged on it here, plenty of photos:

http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?p=99

I am happy to answer any questions here (on what little I know of the IMIEV) or on my blog.

Cheers,

David

Post by **evric** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 03:21

Great pics David.
Ric.

Post by **acmotor** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 03:58

Great article David.

Now I am green, and it's not environmental !

Where was it going to be parked tonight ?

What did you hear of the motor/controller inside/outside the vehicle ?

It looks to be the same outside size as the charade, but more room inside. What was your impression ?

Website · Post by **htial** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 04:49

Aww... ...So lucky...

I wanted to go to the public showing here in Melbourne but couldn't get the morning off work...

Website · Post by **Simon** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 05:03

At $30,000 I would buy one!

What did they say the range is?

Post by **acmotor** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 05:06

Daryl went to the Melb 8am launch and only 4 members of the public turned up (all AEVA members). Lack of advertising maybe ? Not a good choice of display location / time ?

Maybe Mitsubishi should just contact AEVA in each state. I'm certain we could gather plenty of interested people.

Post by **acmotor** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 05:08

Hey Simon, I was first !
Does that mean they have to double the production run ?

Post by **coulomb** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 05:30

We got a good feel for the acceleration and regenerative braking (both good).

So how was the regen enabled? Throttle off gives heavy braking (more than ICE)? "B" gear?

I'm curious how they have configured regenerative braking to suit the masses.

Thanks for the info and photos.

Post by **drowe67** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 12:28

acmotor wrote: Great article David.
Where was it going to be parked tonight ?

They put it to sleep just after I left. It's currently got S.A. plates and rego but they are nervous about driving it in traffic as it's too valuable to risk on the roads. They told me there are a few other cars doing similar demo work in other countries. This one is off to Singapoore next week for more promos.

acmotor wrote: What did you hear of the motor/controller inside/outside the vehicle ?

Silent as I recall. Just road noise. That's one of the reasons we nearly collided I think, without an indicator no evidence (e.g. exhaust, engine noise) that it's running (same with my EV at low speed).

acmotor wrote: It looks to be the same outside size as the charade, but more room inside. What was your impression ?

Just as you say - more room inside. It's probably looks a little narrower and shorter than the Charade but higher. Inside it has stacks of room, I am 175cm and sitting in the back my legs weren't near touching the front seat. As good as my Falcon in the back. Four people easy.

The shape is a little different - the front wheels are located almost under the front bumper. Where the radiator would normally be is a small A/C condenser about 40cm across at the bottom of the front.

coulomb wrote:So how was the regen enabled? Throttle off gives heavy braking (more than ICE)? "B" gear?

Yes it does some regen every time you take you foot off the accelerator. Nina found it natural so I imagine it's tuned to mimic an ICE. The B setting makes regen more aggressive (coming down hills, maybe?). Plus there was also an ECO mode that limited the acceleration.

Post by **acmotor** » Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 17:53

I am concerned that if Mitsubishi was assessing the interest in Australia in the iMiEV that an almost secretive car park demo to mitsi staff in Adelaide and only a quiet static show at 8am in Melbourne have been all that I have heard about from over here in Perth ?
Ok, I know there was probably more, but I talking about what news has reached me and not reports that I have gone searching for. I'm talking press, exposure, demo runs and a visit to Perth ! I've done plenty of emailing to them too.
Sorry for the winge drowe, I'm still green about your ride !

Post by **tdean** » Thu, 16 Apr 2009, 01:09

drowe67 wrote: A friend of my wife works at Mitsubishi Adelaide, and I was lucky enough to sit in the IMIEV while she test drove it. Followed up with a test drive of my EV for comparison. I also narrowly avoided the first EV-EV collision - the IMIEV nearly hit me in the car park!
David

Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Well done David.

So all we need to do is sit back and wait to hear that they're making them for the Australian market.

Did Nina have any ideas on price for this EV?

Post by **MikeD** » Thu, 16 Apr 2009, 19:30

Found this piece on the IMIEV

http://livenews.viotv.com/?mediaId=b4e2 ... 55ae0ccaaf