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Joshua Dowling15 Apr 2010
REVIEW

Mitsubishi iMiEV

The electric car is here, now how about the infrastructure? Oh, and clean energy

Mitsubishi iMiEV


Local Launch
Sydney, NSW


What we liked
>> Impressive, zippy acceleration
>> Roomy for such a small car
>> Doesn't use a drop of petrol


Not so much
>> Driving range is closer to 100km than 160km
>> It takes seven hours to charge from empty and you need a special 15 amp socket
>> It's likely to cost $70,000


Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine and Drivetrain: 4.0/5.0
Price, Value, Practicality: 2.0/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0


About our ratings


OVERVIEW
>> Meet Australia's first electric car
The electric car is no longer a dream. It's in my driveway.


While governments in Australia and overseas are talking the talk, and carmakers such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan-Renault are getting kudos for their hybrid or electric vehicle development, modest carmaker Mitsubishi has gazumped them all and delivered an electric car for the every day.


It's called the iMiEV and, after a having its plug pulled a few times in the lead-up to its local launch, it is finally here. With numberplates, and not a PR minder in sight.


I've driven the iMiEV a few times over the past 12 months, but usually only around the block. This time, I got to live with the iMiEV for a weekend, and do with it as I please. But it wasn't until I was sitting in traffic in peak hour on Sydney's Anzac Bridge did it really dawn on me that the electric car era isn't coming. It's already here.


Before we get down to details, it's worth noting a few fast facts and covering off some answers to some commonly asked questions.


Firstly, it feels just like a normal car to drive, except it is almost silent (but for the hum of an electric motor). Acceleration to, say, 60km/h or 80km/h is as brisk as any other small car.


There are really only two limitations: range and charging points.


Mitsubishi says the iMiEV will drive for between 100km and 160km between recharges but in reality slightly less than 100km is closer to the mark.


And recharging isn't entirely fuss-free. Sure you can plug it in at home or work -- but only providing home or work have a 15 amp power socket installed. The electric current when recharging runs at about 13 amps. Most households and businesses in Australia only have 10 amp power sockets.


But these limitations are easily overcome once you consider how far you drive when commuting each day. More than 80 per cent of motorists drive less than 100km to and from work.


And, of course, if you've only used half a 'tank' of battery energy, it takes only three or four hours to recharge to 'full'.


Mitsubishi Australia took delivery of two showroom-ready iMiEVs in Brisbane last month, and this pair will be touring the country showing politicians, VIPs and the curious exactly how straight-forward -- and accessible -- the technology is.


The hope is that this will lead to the iMiEV going on sale for members of the public to buy by the end of this year.



PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
>> Steep price for saving the planet
Here's the tricky part. In order to eliminate your fuel bill you need to spend an estimated $70,000 for a car that's about the same size as a $15,000 Toyota Yaris.


If you travel the average distance of most Australians each year (15,000km in round numbers) and drive an average car (which consumed 12L/100km) you'11 burn through about 1800 litres of petrol which, at $1.30 per litre, will cost you $2340. To break even on the iMiEV based on fuel savings alone, you'd need to run it for 30 years -- by which time we'll probably be flying to work using personal jet packs.


Of course, you also need to take into account the additional cost to your energy bill. Energy experts say that recharging an electric car consumes about the same amount of grunt as your home hot water system (typically 30 per cent of the electricity bill in most households). Helpfully, energy rates are cheaper in the dead of night, when demand is off-peak.


That said, no matter which way you look at it, the iMiEV is not a car for the cash conscious, but it is a car for those who want to do their bit and make a statement about the environment.


One of the most brilliant aspects of the iMiEV, to me, is that it pushes the greenhouse debate away from cars, and puts the spotlight on where it belongs: coal-fired power stations.


In case you're not aware of the facts, according to Federal Government greenhouse data, coal fired power stations account for 50 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture (the back end of cows et al) account for 27 per cent, and passenger cars account for between 7 and 9 per cent.


The car world has delivered the showroom-ready electric vehicle in less time than many of us -- including governments -- expected. Now it's time for authorities at all levels to help pave the way for the electric car by providing at least the skeleton of proper infrastructure.


So, why is the iMiEV so expensive? This is the price of leading-edge technology. The lithium-ion batteries and the electric drive motors are the main culprits when it comes to cost (see MECHANICAL), representing about three-quarters of the total manufactured value of the car.


Perhaps to help soften the impact, Mitsubishi Australia is planning to equip the iMiEV with every piece of technology available to it. The Japanese-spec model we tested did not have stability control or side curtain airbags, but these are on the wish list for Australia-bound iMiEVs.


Other luxury equipment (standard on the car tested) includes a proximity key, a six-speaker sound system, tinted rear glass and a premium, leather-wrapped steering wheel from the Lancer sedan.



MECHANICAL
>> There's not much under the bonnet
Contrary to popular belief, electric cars are not slouches. Whereas the power generated by petrol engines increases as revs rise, electric motors are most powerful from rest and then their power tapers.


It's the reason that carmakers are already investigating uses for electric motors in sportscars. It's also the reason the iMiEV is surprisingly zippy.


All this shouldn't come as a surprise once you look at the numbers.


The iMiEV's power output of 47kW is modest compared with most small four-cylinder cars (the Mazda2 and Yaris 1.5, for example, have 76kW and 80kW of power respectively). But torque -- the true measure of a motor's ability to overcome resistance -- is massive by Light Car standards. The iMiEV has 180Nm of torque on tap, compared to 137Nm and 141Nm for the Mazda2 and Yaris 1.5.


And it is not penalised by weight. The iMiEV weighs 1030kg, which is at the lighter end of the Light Car class.


The 16kWh lithium-ion battery pack (which weighs 230kg) is mounted low, under the floor of the passenger compartment. Meanwhile, the electric motor in the iMiEV sits under the cargo floor between the rear wheels, where the small petrol-powered engine lives in the regular version of the i-Car.


The electric motor directly drives the rear axles; there is no need for a transmission. So the iMiEV in effect has one gear, and the speed is dictated by how fast the electric motor is spinning. Top speed is 130km/h.



PACKAGING

>> Ready for four
According to the tape measure the iMiEV is just 3.4 metres long, but to paraphrase The Castle, "it's what you do with it, darl".


The iMiEV is slightly shorter than a Toyota Yaris (3.8 metres) but longer than a Smart ForTwo (2.7 metres). But the interior space is quite remarkable; it feels as roomy as a Yaris front and rear, but it doesn't have as much cargo space -- or the Yaris's handy sliding rear seat. Oh, and it's a four-seater not a five-seater.


The dashboard is simple but functional and the instrument panel is very straight-forward. A digital 'fuel' gauge shows you how much battery power remains, an eco-gauge shows you how much power you're using instantaneously, and there's a large digital speedo in the centre of it all.


Visibility is good all around thanks to the large glass area, although as with many Japanese cars the car beeps on the inside when reversing.



SAFETY
>> Four star crash rating according to Japan NCAP
The regular i-Car, the petrol-powered version of the iMiEV, scored four stars in Japanese NCAP tests. But note that the domestic model is equipped with dual front airbags only.


Mitsubishi Australia is negotiating to have iMiEVs sold here equipped with side and curtain airbags as well as stability control. It is not known whether this will elevate the iMiEV to a five star NCAP safety rating, but it will at least make it a safer vehicle in the real world.



COMPETITORS
>> Toyota's Prius comes close, but the real rivals are two years away
The iMiEV is so far ahead of its time, there are really no direct rivals. Yet.


Nissan says it will launch the Leaf electric car in 2012. It's bigger than the iMiEV (Toyota Corolla size), has the same driving range and is expected to cost less than $40,000.


The same year, Holden will release the Volt hybrid electric car. The Volt can be recharged overnight and deliver 64km of petrol-free driving, but it has a petrol motor that extends the total driving range to about 400km between recharges and refills. The Volt, which is the same size as a Holden Cruze sedan (with which it shares its underpinnings) is expected to cost about $65,000.


Toyota is experimenting with a plug-in Prius that can deliver between 20-40km of petrol-free driving, but so far a release date and price have not been set.



ON THE ROAD
>> Be prepared to be shocked
For some reason, when people think of electric cars, they think of golf buggies. But let's be clear: electric cars aren't slow. Indeed, as we've already reported, electric motors have an instant burst of energy from a standstill, and then their power tapers gradually.


It's the opposite of petrol engines, whose power rises as revs climb.


According to our stop watch, in normal mode the i-Miev reached 50km/h in just 5sec, 60km/h in 6.0 and 80km/h in 8.5.


As expected of the electric motor, acceleration tapered between 80km/h and 100km/h and the clock was stopped at 12.5 seconds for the 0 to 100km/h sprint, which is still a very respectable time in this class.


The figures show that the iMiEV would beat most Light Cars to about 60km/h -- but it takes the iMiEV a little longer than most petrol cars to get from 80km/h to 100km/h.


Acceleration once already on the move, however, is a snack. The iMiEV is a fast mover, accelerating swiftly and responsively, to blend with or even outpace traffic.


Only in Eco mode does the iMiEV accelerate more slowly than the rest of the traffic flow. In this mode it limits power and makes the throttle less sensitive. It's ideal for stop-start traffic.


To see how far I could stretch a 'tank' of energy, I also switched off the air-conditioning. I got a full 16km before the first digital block dissolved from the gauge (see pic).


On the weekend, I drove one full day in Eco mode and one full day in Power mode. It was much more enjoyable to drive in Power mode and/or Brake mode (Brake mode is the same as Power mode but enables more aggressive regenerative braking each time you ease off the throttle).


In everyday use I would leave the iMiEV in Brake mode; you get the zippy performance and optimum regenerative braking.


In my experience there is little benefit in driving in Eco mode when travelling at normal speeds in light traffic because, although you are only using half throttle, it takes longer to get to the speed limit. Eco mode is best left for slow stop-start driving.


In Power or Brake mode, you use a short burst of energy to get up to speed and then coast more efficiently from there.


If I had a magic wand I would have an Eco Brake mode, a mode which doesn't give you full power but which does give you maximum regenerative braking. Apparently you can never make journos happy...


Meanwwhile, in terms of handling, the iMiEV drives reasonably well considering its super skinny front tyres, which were designed for economy, not corners.


The iMiEV is quiet and comfortable. But for some it can be too quiet. I had a couple of close calls with pedestrians in carparks, so extra caution is required from the driver -- and in the electric-car future pedestrians will need to learn not to rely on their ears alone to detect approaching vehicles.


So, could you live with iMiEV every day? Absolutely. I loved the iMiEV when I first drove it a year ago. Now I've 'lived' with one for a weekend I'm more excited about what the future holds. It's truly one of the most exciting cars I've driven all year.


The electric car era is genuinely going to be fun. I just wish it wasn't going to be so damn expensive.


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Written byJoshua Dowling
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