Vehicle: 2012 Mitsubishi i-MIEV Premium
Price as tested: CDN$35998
Performance: Like most EV, i-MIEV’s batteries are mounted at the back of this microcar. With 16kWh of lithium-ion batteries, Mitsubishi claims its able to travel 130km on one single charge for 6 hours using 240V outlet. If you are using lesser 120V, however, the amount of time on charging has to be more than doubled. If you are running out of juice and need a quickie, an half hour charge is able to charge up to 80% of the batteries. Because it doesn’t have a small gasoline engine as an assistance, one has to fully calcuate on how far the distance one has to travel on each trip through the center screen. While its able to go up to top speed of 130 km/h, its highly recommended to stay at around 100km/h or less to conserve the batteries. By pressing the “engine start” button, it doesn’t have internal combustion engine note. However, its all about EV quietness. If you thought your Lexus LS460 is quietest car in the world, you obviously haven’t driven an EV before. With 66hp and 196NM carrying through 2400lb, i’s performance is quite respectable. That’s despite the fact that you shouldn’t compared to Tesla.
Handling: When you consider the fact that i shares the same architecture as Smart For2, you pretty much get the picture. Combined with narrow tires, short wheelbase, a high center-of-gravity and soft suspension; its best to leave the i-MIEV as a city car. For what its worth, i-MIEV has done a pretty remarkable job judging by its underpinnings. Once again, you shouldn’t compared with Tesla roadster when it comes to road manners. It has done a decent enough jobs on controlling body motions, eliminate understeer while providing better than expected steering feel and feedback when pushed i-MIEV through the corners. Because of the manners it handles, you surely won’t go too far away in city center. Along with the surprisingly civilized suspension which absorb expansion joints and washboard pavements, which usually happens within city driving. That means you aren’t likely to run out of juice in downtown Vancouver or Toronto. That’s except you are getting really poor at calculating the range between downtown office and your home in the suburb.
Brakes: The regenerative braking system in i-MIEV is another surprise. It actually has some lives to it. Both the stopping distance and pedal feel are decent, without feeling spongy and numb. On the other hand, ABS has acted reasonably.
Interior: Except for the digital instrumetation shown you all the information, regarding the driving range and % of batteries consumed; you are basically sitting inside the regular i. That said, the driving position is like sitting “on top” instead of “inside” a car. All the controls are logically layout without too much fuss.
The rear seats are enough for 2 persons while making a squeeze for the third. Consider its supermini status, the leg and headroom are more than surprising.
With the rear washer/wiper, a decently low liftover and narrow side sills; i-MIEV’s luggage space is more than acceptable given its physical dimensions. Fold down the rear seats, its luggage space is nearly doubled.
Conclusion: The i-MIEV finally joints in the ranks of Volt and Leaf as another choice in the EV world. If there is one major problem, its the price. With its supermini status, it has priced closely to Leaf and Volt (before calcualting the federal government reduction on EV). Both of the competitions are larger vehicles with more spacious interior and comfortable ride. That could spoken as a major pitfall to i-MIEV’s future success in this limited segment.
Competitions:
Chevrolet Volt
Nissan Leaf
OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2012 Mitsubishi i-MIEV
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Performance: 3/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 2/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 2.5/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 2.5/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 2/5
Value-for-money: 2/5
Overall rating: 2.5/5