Say Hello to "Evie"

My maternal grandmother's name was Evie, pronounced "EH-vee." The latest addition to our automotive stable is named Evie also, but we are pronouncing it "EEE-vee." You see, this 2012 Mitsubishi i-Miev really is an EV - a totally electric vehicle.

I had been wanting to try an EV for a while, and my friend Bill helped me out with a great deal on this trade-in with only 23,900 miles. It's an interesting story, because this one was traded in on another, newer i-Miev - I guess the folks really liked them! Bill and I went for an extensive test drive before I committed to buy, and we were both impressed. I believe Bill said, "This is a real car!" We drove it far enough to verify that the "fuel gauge" dropped at a rate consistent with the calculated expectations. That way I had confidence that the battery pack was still OK.

Not only did I get a great deal on the car, I also got a great deal on a Level 2 charger to install in our home garage. Interestingly enough, that was installed in March, but I didn't get the car until almost four months later. Long story, but it was related to the government shutdown due to Covid-19. 

 The i-Miev was one of the first full electric vehicles on the market, and it was never much of a sales success. The range when fully charged is only rated at 64 miles, which decreases if you use the air conditioning or the heater. But, my life is actually a perfect match, because most of my life is spent in the small city of Lancaster, along with the immediately neighboring towns. My workplace is only 1.5 miles from the house.

For example, yesterday I had a route that had three stops in Lancaster and neighboring Lititz, and the total trip was about 18 miles. When I started, I had just fully charged the battery, and the range indicator said 66 miles. At the end of the trip, it said 43 miles remaining.

66 - 43 = 23 miles of range used for that 18 mile trip, and that matches what I expected since I was using the air conditioning sporadically. It was interesting to watch the immediate effect turning on the air had - just pressing the button for the compressor would cause the remaining miles indicated to drop by 15% to 25%, depending on the car's mood, I guess. I'm surprised at how quickly my range anxiety went away. I knew I had plenty of range for my planned trip, so no problem. I didn't even hook it up to the charger when I got home, because the battery pack will last longer if you aren't topping it up all the time. When it gets to around 12-15 miles remaining, I'll charge it up. The Level 2 charger will charge from nearly empty in about 4 hours. Evie also came with a smaller charger than plugs into a regular 110 volt outlet, and I keep that in the car for emergency use. 

Evie is petite. Her length is about 137", nearly a foot and a half shorter than a 2020 Miata. The width is also less than a Miata by about 10".  But for such a small frame, the ride is very comfortable, and of course, the car is very quiet without any engine noise. It also has a hatchback with an amazing amount of load space when the rear seats are down. In case you can't read the numbers on the inset photos of the tape measure, it's 51" deep and around 39" wide.

This Wikipedia entry has lots of interesting history about the i-Miev, which was also sold in Europe as a Citroën and as a Peugeot: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_i-MiEV

Here in the Covid times, when we scarcely move our Kia Soul, and haven't driven the Audi TT in 6 weeks, this plug-and-go car seems a great way to run errands and such. We're even considering selling the Kia, since we're both working from home now. Interesting times!