My mom drives one and she saves about 1000 bucks a year which covers the cost of insurance but the electricity bill goes up by 9 dollars and I believe that ain’t bad at all
I own a 2012 I -Miev. I love my car. It's small, and fits pretty much anywhere. I almost got an electric smart car but when I drove this one I just fell in love with it. It is big enough where you can sit four perhaps 5 (skinny) people. I have had two 6 ft tall adults sit in the back for about 1hr to 1hr and a half and they didn't have a problem with the leg space (but I am short so there was slightly more leg space in the back). However, you would be surprised how much it can haul (no medium to big furniture of course). You do have to get used to the range, but it doesn't really take that long. The draw back with electric cars (in general) is if you use the air conditioner or the heater, the range decreases a few miles. The first time I drove it, it was cold enough outside where I needed to use the heater and I was a bit scared when 10-15 miles of range disappeared. when I turned off the heater the range went up and in reality I only lost about 3-4 miles on the way home (12-15 miles). You do get used to using the car as you do become more aware of how much power it is taking to operate. I usually get about 63-75 miles (occasionally 80) on a full charge. Keep in mind, your driving style does affect your avg/charge (like in gas cars). I drive to work about 15 miles and often times I will leave with about 70 miles and get to work with 60-65 miles left. Again, if you coast, keep a constant speed (on the hwy), and avoid taking off quickly your range gets much better. It does great in traffic! The other great thing about it is that it cost me about 20-30$ PER MONTH to charge at home. The downfall: as it is not a very common car it is hard to find tires or air filters for the car. The front wiper you can get at Costco, the back wiper is much harder to find (I'm still looking for a replacement). I was in an accident where I was hit from the back (at a stop sign) and I spoke to the mechanics that replaced the back bumper about the battery and he said that if there is damage to the battery (of any electric car_ they have to send the car to a specific person to fix it. The warranty for the battery is great: 11 year warranty. Overall, it's a great commuter car! If you want an affordable, entry level, environmentally friendly car, this is it.
You missed a few things. The i-MiEV does have an audible warning at low speeds to alert pedestrians. Also, the batteries are not located under the cargo area in the hatch - the location you had your hand on was the motor. The batteries are located under the floor like most factory produced electric vehicles. Fair review overall - I own one and love it. I use mine for my daily 60 mile round trip commute near Buffalo, NY.
We bought our used imiev in May 2017 and we love it a year later. We saved so much money in fuel and maintenance costs. You don't buy an imiev for speed or minimum comfort. You buy it to lead the way in the EV movement and to save cash. That was our intention. We are on top!
You are not used to small cars. You hear it. That is a non luxury car. It is a small econo car. Our Subaru Forester is actually not much quieter. I found it fine. The ride was decent. Lots of head room. I am 5'8. The back was comfortable for me. The car held the road well. It did not at all feel poorly built. I drove a low mile 2012 model. I want one. I liked the simple dash, I actually want the one without navigation. The plastic seemed fine. "Employer paying for Gas".. NOT Employee. the only down side for this car is the low crash scores for rear seat passengers. I would find the place inside more than enough for us and 2 kids. This car is WAY better than a golf cart. Americans are fickle over anything. 4 people can fit in here. 90% of the public could use this without range issues. Just rent on rare occasions when needed for long trips.
Yeah, I owned one for 3 years and eight months. I miss it, but I didn't like replacing its tires so often and I wanted more space. Now I have a Nissan Leaf. The leaf is cool, but the imiev is really unique.
I disagree with the noise and suspension part. I find the noise completely absent and the suspension really comfy. Driving it feels like eating slightly warm vanilla yoghurt, haha.
I don't think you should worry about the length of the videos. You want to make sure you are thorough and give as much pertinent information as possible. Fans will watch regardless of the length, especially if it's a car they are interested in.
I just purchased one of these cars in 2022 with bald tires and the metal cords showing because the tires are hard to find and very expensive unlike the statement in this video LOL
@scoobasteve - I only ask about video length because I have statistics that show how long, on average, a person watches a video on the Everyman Driver RU-vid Channel. I know that people who LOVE and are SERIOUS about researching a vehicle, will watch longer but I'd like to be as efficient and thorough as possible without wasting anyone's time. Thank you for your feedback, it's VERY helpful - Dave
I'd be interested in a Honda Fit EV review. I think the video length is excellent anywhere from 5-7 minutes. 7 minutes, for those cars that just have more features and more things to talk about or show. As always, you do great work Dave whether it's for Ironman stuff or cars.
I have a 2000 Honda Accord with 130000 miles on it, bought it for 3000 bucks, I have a red/purpleish 2012 Mitsubishi i-Miev, bought it for 7000 bucks, and lastly, I have a 2015 Yamaha r3 which I brought for around 5000 bucks. That means I have a reliable Japanese car for long distances, a reliable Japanese motorcycle for fun, and a electric car for boring stuff, like work (24 or so miles combined). I personally think my method is awesome, my neighbors in the apartments think it's hilarious because I could've just brought a +10,000 dollar car instead, and my landlord thinks I have too many wheels. My only regret for this set-up is that I should've bought a cheaper motorcycle. Of course I didn't include any taxes or DMV fees (motorcycle gear was 1500 bucks), those are a pain in the butt to remember for just a silly youtube comment. ;)
If you notice a difference while driving in eco, your lead foot is wasting energy. If you learn to drive it where you can not tell the difference , you can get 100 mile range. My best is 109.
Looks like the perfect car for gated retirement communities. As an practical option for most of the rest of the country it is a non-starter. A nice car for a niche market. Good balanced review.
Would have to be a huge(and thus expensive) solar panel to get any appreciable draw when we're talking the amount of electricity required to run even a small EV; basically the whole roof. Now, it'd definitely help, and I think the even bigger benefit would be leaving it in the sun while you're at work, and by the end of the day you've gained a few miles back for your commute home.
Solid review as always guys! THANK GOD you upgraded to a samsung note 2 instead of a crapple iphoney 5. My wife and I have the note 2 and ate looking to upgrade to the new note 3 in a few months.
What happened to this car, why did it fail? Nissan Leaf is still around and first generation of that car looked terrible, I like the look of the IMievemeviie or whatever you want to call it. It got so much flack for no good reason, it's like oh wait we can actually charge people an arm and a leg for electric cars and they're willing to pay those prices?!?!!?? It's sad because if the car is so cheap then why was it cancelled. If I had to guess I would say the thing cost them a tone of money to design and produce, and there's nothing cheap about it. People are cheap and they pay top dollar for brand name bs, when the reality is Mitsubishi likely lost a lot of money on this car in the process and paved the way for everyone else. It was basically the first EV, before even the Leaf so thats' gotta say something right there...
It'd be great if you could post long & short version of every test drive. I love cars, so I do enjoy the long ones for the cars i like, but always wish videos were shorter for the cars that just wanna get a quick idea about.
Would love to hear your thoughts on video review length. I'm thinking... 5 minutes is fair? Everyone's time is valuable and I want to make sure you're getting the most value for your time. Let me know - Dave
Car reviewer? You are supposed to review the car in its context, it's not a sports car, or super luxury car, its an eco EV, small and light to maximize efficiency, know the car you are reviewing, and review it, for what it is, it's certainly not a glorified gold cart
Dave, as a guy who does briefs(aviation weather) for a living, that's my limit too. I know that by 5 minutes I need to say what I've got to say, and that I've lost my audience if I go much longer. Likewise, that seems like the perfect amount of time that it takes you guys to give a detailed summary of a car and its driving characteristics. Keep up the great work; love the wide range of cars that you guys review, and also that you give boring family cars(live I drive) a fair shake.
The common word used to describe this car is "Cheap." But this car is not "inexpensive." Twenty thousand dollars is not economical for a very large majority of the populous. Even when you subtract the cost of gasoline it is not economical. Where we need to go is a car the minimum wage worker can drive. Who cares if Jay Leno can buy one. He can afford gasoline. My opinion only. There may be other points of view I did not touch on. Nice video. Very well done. Great job. keep it up.
It cost $15,400 after your federal tax credit. Also Maryland, as with many states, has no excise tax on electric cars, no emission tests, and almost no maintanence costs i.e. tune ups, oil changes, exhaust etc, btw the brakes last forever. If you drive enough, spend $15/day on gas as I did, the car pays for itself. I bought mine for $309/ mo. with nothing down and spend very little to charge it. If I charge at home, 0 to 100% costs less than $2 but I charge at free locations almost daily.
awesome! please make a very in depth review and compare it to the 2013 civic SI :D really looking forward to the review of the Subaru BRZ or Scion FRS prefer in satin white pearl/whiteout color
All of these new, cool, innovative city cars. I wish I lived in the city. Don't think a Scion IQ or Mitsubishi i Miev would be safe when the adverage speed around my town is 40mph.
I think the idea is that your boss gives you enough to 'top off' your fuel tank, every day... For an economy car, getting an extra 100 per week would help a lot, yes? ;-) At the very least, it covers the fuel going to and from work each day. Zero sum awesome.
5 minutes seems like too little time to discuss something that people will spend a large portion of their money on. 10 minutes seems better, that way you can cover just about everything people will be interested in.
Whoever is writing the copy for you guys really, really needs an editor as some of the voice overs are among the most awkwardly worded I've ever heard. Do send them back to Grammar school will you?
Finally! The first review I've seen where someone tells it like it is... This is a two seater, disguised as a four seater. If this were mine, in practical daily driving, the back seats would be folded flat. I would only use them for children otherwise.
I use it as a truck a lot but I also carry 4 adults often. Of course I'm driving and very comfortably. I do move the seat up a bit for the rear passenger though.
Tsog Ayurzana LOVE IT! We get snowy winters and running heat reduces your range sharply. If you need range, preheat the car on grid and just run the defroster. If you don't need the range, crank it up.
redxsage Honestly. unless you expect it to be some massive SUV or something, I found the back seat totally comfortable. Most people will only drive this car under 35 miles a day anyway. I am 5'8 and fit just fine back there. It might be tighter for bigger people, but they will actually survive.
I'm 6'-1". I've done my time in the back seat of small cars. Many of my Friends are considerably taller than I am, ranging from 6'-3" up to 6'-9". I would never subject them to the rear seat of a car that I don't find comfortable myself. Nothing wrong with this car, but I would drive it as a two-seater and enjoy having greater cargo capacity than a Miata.
i have some question please any one using this please reply me back,,,, 1,, is it electric car ? mean charging car 2.. on petrol its average is very low ? near 11 kM/Ltr
This car is made to bring profit to Mitsubishi! The car after 8-10 years develop charger problem. Charger to change 4300 Euros because you cannot buy separately the parts to reaper it! Everything is vin coded so you cannot buy used parts and replaced. Battery last about 15 years and cost until yet 10.000 Euros! Even if a small problem occurs with the battery you must change all the battery. So consider to give after 15 years 15.000 Euros for maintains. That’s no Green driving! This car cost more than to drive a normal gasoline car! Thanks to Mitsubishi!!!
Modern solar panels are getting cheaper all the time and can now draw 20-25% recharge rate even at night from ultraviolet light we can't see or perhaps they could make a car cover "drop cloth" that has solar panels on it that collect energy while the car is parked, it's just a thought.
I think you were a little soft in this review, it is a very cheaply made car for what it costs, with a little more money you have the leaf that is way better. The hood release is because it was a rhd car.
I don't know what is being released in the ventilation system at Mitsubishi HQ and in the department where decisions are made. It looks like they just don't give a dam about the US market. I just wish they just pack go home or go look for a partner or a buyer. Whatever. This car is just not safe and not a complete project.
Why do electric cars have to bee so ugly and child-like...???. (Have they not heard of Tesla.???...They actually make cars that look great !!) I really want to buy an electric car at a reasonable price, but I am not willing to look humiliated in public.
@55nonni If you want an affordable Tesla, you're in for a loooooong wait. 😉 You're pathetic if you aren't man enough to take the heat from wankers while driving a small "humiliating" economical EV. I'd bet that if you were on the hunt for a chick & she knew you drove a "humiliating" car, she'd probably give you points for making a stand, rather than being a bonehead normal.
+USACA100 ...unless you live in a very urban city such as a major downtown where parking is tight and you don't need to carry much crap around. Then it's perfect! ;)
USACA100 Yes, but gas cars have much more moving parts which means they have more repair costs, oil changes and other basic maintenance costs. Electric cars are cheaper in the long run, not just the savings in fuel costs. Though you just gotta pay a larger price upfront. It's worth the investment unless your know how to fix your own car and don't need to take it to an auto mechanic to change oil and for other basic repairs.
