Mitsubishi i-MiEV
Mitsubishi i-MiEV Mitsubishi i-MiEV
Vyacheslav Subbotin
Number of trips - 23
Duration - 10 days
Length - about 320 km
POSITIVE CHARGE
The nearest outlet for the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car, a downcast and discharged symbol of a bright electric future, is in the lobby of the editorial office. Twenty meters of wire should be enough. In a hurry to a business meeting, he pushed smokers - atmospheric pollutants on the porch, quickly unwound the wire from the reel and handed it to the car. In the cabin, the charge indicator lit up: cheers, went on a push, after 6 hours I will become the greenest motorist in the city. In the meantime, run on the subway!
MANUFACTURER DATA
NEGATIVE FIELD
When he returned to the editor, it was unusually dark in the courtyard and on the first floor of the house. My co-workers were squinting at me, and our electrician was poking around in the electrical panel.
From the car it smelled of burnt wiring. So it is: it was me and the leader of progress who arranged a short circuit and de-energized the editorial office. In the coil, which was not unwound to the end, the insulation melted from the high current, and everything short-circuited. It was worth reading the instructions before grabbing the wires. Charging current 15 A!
I also found out that it takes 8-10 hours to fully saturate the battery from the 220 V network, and the charging mode can be controlled from the remote control: set a timer, warm or cool the interior, without discharging the traction battery. The latter only feeds the motor and stove, everything else - wipers, headlights, multimedia, etc. - works from an additional, regular battery.
The next day I prepared for one hundred percent adventure. The coil was replaced with a conventional wire: it takes up less space, it is easier to unwind, the socket at the end is protected by a cover - neither water nor snow will fall. Stocked up with warm clothes and a tow rope. Finally, I was able to clearly answer even the jokes of my colleagues, who hung a sign on the door of my office: “High voltage. Do not come, kill!”
SURFACE
Proud of myself, I rolled along the clogged Moscow avenues in a car of the future.
The unusual teardrop shape of the baby attracts attention
The unusual teardrop shape of the baby attracts attention. The unusual teardrop shape of the baby attracts attention.
I wanted to shout out the window to the gentle brothers: “Look, I’m not clogging up the atmosphere, I’m not aggravating the greenhouse effect, I’m eating almost silently.” But the brothers only pushed my tiny car, not paying any attention to the innovative i-MiEV nameplate. If I stick a piece of paper on the glass with the price of this baby, would respect probably be added?
However, he didn’t really count on the location of motorists who saw just a tiny car for a blonde. Therefore, I had to prove the viability of our couple on every kilometer of the road: quickly navigate, rebuild and drive fast. I enjoyed controlling this shell. Yes, its absolute performance will not impress the average person: who will be surprised at the maximum speed of 130 km / h or acceleration to hundreds in 15 seconds? But how are they flowing! The electric motor has no jerks, no dips, or twists. Pickup from the bottom, assertive, confident.
Rear-wheel drive, switchable stabilization system, narrow tires, the unit, albeit heavy, but with a low center of gravity (battery under the floor) is what drive lovers need. I felt the car after the second running turn, when I “licked” it with lateral displacement.
Of course, freaks are good if you do not peer into the dashboard. She does not squeal, but with all the red scales she is trying to shame the flaming pilot: look, this is a power zone, and not at all “eco”. You will drive like that - the power reserve will remain until the nearest stall with a power outlet. Melting charge cubes on the pointer quickly sober up. There are sixteen of them, at my pace, each is only enough for a couple of kilometers. I immediately slowed down.
The dashboard is simple and straightforward. But the main thing here is not speed or even an indicator of the driving mode, but the left circle indicating the battery charge
The dashboard is simple and straightforward. But the main thing here is not speed or even an indicator of the driving mode, but the left circle indicating the battery charge. The dashboard is simple and straightforward. But the main thing here is not speed or even an indicator of the driving mode, but the left circle indicating the battery charge.
RECORD RACE
The first electric vehicle tester Maxim Gomyanin among his colleagues managed to drive only 16 km on the Mitsubishi. He returned to the editorial office on a rope. Other writers vigorously picked up his annoyance and discontent: “Ha! Is it a car? A toy. To him add a radio remote control and send it to the park attraction - to entertain the children. Gasoline is the head of everything.” The guys just forgot what the temperature was overboard and the speed of the trip.
Let me remind you that the thermometer froze then at around 25 degrees below zero, and Max traveled 16 miles for an hour and a half - dragged himself through a terrible traffic jam, turning on the stove to the maximum. I do not argue, has the right to heat. But why then demand from the electric device, "to go"? After all, he does not scold his cell phone when he sits down after an hour of work on the Internet! So the i-MiEV from the same test is a gadget, only on wheels. And the approach to it is needed, like to a laptop - prudent and careful.
Having wrapped myself in a sheepskin coat and felt boots, I was able to drive almost 40 km to the house and back in the same frost, and the reserve of charge in one cube still remained. Yes, the cabin is not Africa, but the atmosphere is quite invigorating.
When it got warmer to zero on the street and it wasn’t scary to be on the sidelines with an empty “tank”, I decided to clarify the power reserve until the battery was completely depleted. I even allowed myself to get out of the city and squeeze the maximum speed. According to the speedometer, it reached 137 km / h, according to GPS - 133. I did not refuse anything to myself. The stove blew out as much heat as wanted, accelerated and braked, rebuilt almost in the streetracer mode.
The first warning was received at about 70 kilometers: the last two dice blinked. But I was already in my native land and began to cut circles near the house. When the cubes were over and the orange indicator in the form of a turtle lit up - they say, it’s not worth accelerating at all, just crawl, - the heater suddenly turned off. As the designers correctly calculated, leaving the charge only for movement! But this does not penetrate us.
It was terribly curious when he still freezes. I read about other tests of this machine, - I suspect that my colleagues simply did not finish the experiment, because no one even mentioned the last warning about the complete depletion of the battery. And it is this: you press the gas pedal, the car picks up 30-40 km / h - and then refuses to accelerate. Now I know: to a complete exhaustion about a kilometer. Then just a clap - and that’s it, no reaction to the gas pedal. Pull to the side of the road. My race ended at 85.5 km. Excellent result.
Are you charging? Warn others. My colleague, parked nearby, wrapped a wire around the wheel and almost crumbled the i-MiEV's filler neck
Are you charging? Warn others. My colleague, parked nearby, wrapped a wire around the wheel and almost crumbled the i-MiEV's filler neck. Are you charging? Warn others. My colleague, parked nearby, wrapped a wire around the wheel and almost crumbled the i-MiEV's filler neck.
I stalled, of course, at the height of the orbit in the plane of my house. I tried to push the car with my shoulder. An excellent workout would be for a bodybuilder, but not for me: the car rolls with great difficulty. I remember it was also once hard to push the Volga. It seems that the i-MiEV ran out useless, if I was able to ride it only ten meters, until I myself died.
In the technical center, Gennady Emelkin confirmed my hunch. Not the best disc brake design has migrated unchanged from the Mitsubishi petrol to the electric i-MiEV. And in it the brake discs are always picked up by the pads. As soon as they parted, the wheels could be rotated, barely touching a finger.
Having studied the design of the car in detail, we made sure: i-MiEV is the result of compromises. After all, it is designed for an internal combustion engine. Say, batteries, control units, a reducer could be arranged more compactly and gain additional space and space if the car were originally created as an electric car.
I LIKE
Firstly, energy is cheap compared to the price of fuel. I spent only 30 rubles on a full tank at a night rate. It would take two hundred rubles for gasoline. Feel the difference? When charging in the office, at the daily rate, the car required only a hundred rubles: again, twice as cheap.
Do not believe that you charged the car at home? A car under the window, a wire from it (I live on the second floor) - and until morning to charge. Of course, I was afraid: suddenly the wire was pulled, the charger would be dragged, so the wire was sprinkled with snow so that they would not notice. (Although he himself, having warmed up, fell into a snowdrift so that he could not be found.) He hoped for an alarm.
On frosty days, charging was limited to a couple of hours: when the window was open, it became cold in the apartment. The family suffered because they were sure that the pope was experimenting for the good of mankind.
When the traction battery is completely discharged, the energy in the extra is still in bulk. Lights and headlights are shining, emergency lights, alarm, multimedia are working
When the traction battery is completely discharged, the energy in the extra is still in bulk. Lights and headlights are shining, emergency lights, alarm, multimedia are working. When the traction battery is completely discharged, the energy in the extra is still in bulk. Lights and headlights are shining, emergency lights, alarm, multimedia are working.
You can charge at home. The main thing is that with a working oven, washing machine, TV, computer, burning chandeliers, the toaster should not be turned on. He, nasty, can cut down electricity in the whole apartment.
Secondly, simplicity of design, reliability and resource. What is there to break? Motor, gearbox and four shock absorbers. You can call on the service once a year - just say hello. Confuses battery life. But experts assure: on one battery, you can go a dozen years. I believe that replaceable elements will appear soon: I’ve handed over the old ones - get new ones at a bargain price.
Thirdly, zero toxic emissions and minimum noise. Not tired of smoking "Lada" and rumble "Nexia"? In the coming summer, I only once saw a blue sky above the capital: after a hurricane with rain and thunderstorms.
Objections - they produce electricity by burning fuel oil and gas, that is, also with emissions, I note. Burning at stations and in motors varies greatly. In ICE, the regimes change all the time, and at power plants they are stable. Efficiency of any station is incomparably higher than that of any motor, in addition, the filter system is much more powerful than a set of converters even in a very expensive modern car. Finally, a lot of clean energy from rivers, seas, wind and the sun. Now, if we now transfer everything to electric cars, we’ll definitely breathe freely.
Fear of the oil lobby. It managed in America to change the course of history and stop the arrival of electric vehicles in the New World for 40 years. Indeed, already in the 1970s, the Big Three was ready to produce electric cars. But no: who then would take gas and diesel fuel? Go broke, or what?
The i MiEV heating system is energy intensive. Antifreeze is boiled with electricity, it heats the radiator of the stove. The power reserve is reduced
The i MiEV heating system is energy intensive. Antifreeze is boiled with electricity, it heats the radiator of the stove. The power reserve is reduced. The i MiEV heating system is energy intensive. Antifreeze is boiled with electricity, it heats the radiator of the stove. The power reserve is reduced.
Nowadays, the times are different, energy is also strong. It is beneficial for them to sell energy at night, when, in addition to charging machines, by and large, no one needs it.
I DO NOT LIKE
Sky-high price: for such a malipuska 1 million 800 thousand. Meanwhile, in Russia since the end of last year, Rolf has sold more than four dozen i-MiEVs. Recently opened sales in Yekaterinburg. And proud of it! However, not a single name is given to the owner of the electric car. Though drag with ticks. Are you shy?
The head of Rolf Import Andrei Pankov claims: the cost of a car will fall by 400 thousand rubles if customs duties and VAT for the import of purely electric cars are removed. He says he has found support in our government, soon this item will appear in the documents of the countries of the Customs Union. But even under these conditions it will be extremely expensive. Although Pankov hopes that with more sales, the Japanese will reduce their purchase value. Moreover, he expects that the purchase of such machines from us, as well as throughout Europe, will begin to be subsidized by the state. For example, in Denmark, each owner of a wheeled gadget is guaranteed an assist - 20 thousand euros. He also hopes that they will begin to rapidly build charging stations, abolish the transport tax, allow them to travel in designated lanes, park for free, etc.
In general, Andrei believes that in five years, the share of electric cars in sales in megalopolises of the country will be 10%. And the Mitsubishi, whose interests it represents, is now the furthest advanced in the construction of electric machines. In this light, I understand the activity of Andrei Pankov, and I support him. But…
WOULD I BUY A CAR NOW?
Yes, at a reasonable price. After all, the range of about 80% of my trips around the city does not exceed 50 km. In addition, the power reserve in winter can be increased at least twice, if you put an independent heater with a tiny consumption of diesel fuel. So, for example, "Renault" did with its electric cars, scrolling across Scandinavia. It’s easier in summer: if the charge runs out, turn off the air conditioner and you won’t be lost.
How to charge in Moscow? It is possible at work, sometimes at home, the neighbor has a garage nearby. I have no doubt that very soon electric cars will turn from exotic to completely ordinary and special sockets will appear everywhere.
By the way, I’ve already thought about buying myself an electric scooter or the same one is great. A great transition to a bright electric future.
Maxim Gomyanin
Number of trips - 5
Duration - 6 hours
Length - about 120 km
Point of no return
The car immediately became a superstar editorial parking. Still, the wheel of a serial electric car has not come here yet. And I'm sitting in the cabin and wondering what is more in it - black and white.
The miniature is rather deceptive: inside is surprisingly spacious. The driver's seat is wide, with elevator height adjustment. In general, I sat down comfortably, only I can’t find the heating button. Found - opposite the right knee. Unsuccessful solution: you can also accidentally press, but this is not the last consumer of energy. In the area of the left knee, there is a switch of the ASC dynamic stability control system and a toggle switch with a socket symbol: it opens the “neck” filling on the right - to connect to a conventional power supply. And pulling the lever next to the seat, open the left hatch. There is a socket for quick charging at a special gas station.
The back sofa is beyond praise. Spacious for two, and the knees do not rest against the backs of the front seats, which are made thin.
The back is very spacious. The seatbacks can be easily folded both together and separately, the pillow is removed. Underneath is a compressor and tire repair kit
The back is very spacious. The seatbacks can be easily folded both together and separately, the pillow is removed. Underneath is a compressor and tire repair kit. The back is very spacious. The seatbacks can be easily folded both together and separately, the pillow is removed. Underneath is a compressor and tire repair kit.
CUBIC DEPENDENCE
I turn the ignition key, and in response, silence. It is possible to guess that the motor is running only by Ready on the instrument panel. Touching the i-MiEV is just as quiet. Unusual sensations! And it goes very cheerfully, it picks up 90 km / h easily. A cold car with a gasoline engine had to be twisted to keep up with the baby …
On that day, the thermometer fell to minus twenty-five, but this did not save the city from congestion.
The battery charge cubes on the dashboard disappear - I put the selector in economy mode, trying to save. It seems that the process has slowed down, but the thought unpleasantly pricked: “Can we go back?”.
Having pushed through the labor movement, Mitsubishi asked for mercy, blinking the last cube of energy. And we drove through the frost and in traffic jams 16 kilometers! Hope only for a fashionable underground parking, where there should be sockets. They were found there - but there was no electricity! Either saving, or safety … I had to tow the i-MiEV to the publisher.
We clearly overestimated the capabilities of the machine. The interior heating constantly worked - it was he who sucked up most of the energy. But for 1.8 million rubles I would like heat in the car!
HOPE AT A HAPPY AND END
The parking barrier lowered like a curtain in a theater, putting an end to the test. Frost and Moscow traffic jams were stronger than Japanese innovations. But I don’t want, having watched the performance, leave the hall disappointed. Maybe this is not the end - intermission?
Mitsubishi i-MiEV is the first, rather bold attempt to evaluate the market. It is perceived not as a car, but as a fashionable thing like a very expensive mobile phone or a gold watch. But this is only for now. In maintenance, an electric car should become cheaper than cars with an internal combustion engine.
It remains only to adapt the car to the conditions of Russia and change the price tag. Although the latter is difficult to do: say, in Germany, the i-MiEV costs 34, 390 euros.
Probably, the point of no return to cars with traditional engines is not yet close, but the movement continues to it. At least while the batteries are charged.
Sergey Kannunnikov
Number of trips - 2
Duration - 2 hours 25 minutes
Length - about 25 km
KINDERGARTEN
He's like a fancy dress at a kindergarten matinee. Mom tried, tried, but it turned out that moving in this beauty is hot and uncomfortable, moreover, the clumsy offspring has already stained her.
In a small quiet town, in a warm country, it’s fun to ride such a machine with a hot baguette and fresh milk, passing a couple of quiet quarters. Going through winter Moscow, desperately trampling on frozen feet, wondering whether to crawl, and trying not to turn on either the headlights or the wiper again, even for 15–20 kilometers I don’t feel like at all.
The product of high technology and engineering talent is not bad at all. Only he is from another (to be honest, I do not really imagine what) life. What good is an advanced mobile phone to be proud of if there is no taiga and communication around hundreds of miles?
Of course, there will be those who put a toy on for a million eight hundred thousand to ride it somewhere in the estate. They have every right! But this has little to do with the car in the usual and suitable for our life understanding.
They say that in Moscow they will soon open almost twenty special electric stations. Maybe, first, patch up the potholes - say, in their native Sretenka?
Anna Klepach
Number of trips - 1
Duration 40 minutes
Length - about 12 km
THESE ARE NOT TAKEN IN COSMONAUTS
Have you ever tried food for astronauts? Yes, the very one that is eaten in orbit. She is perfectly balanced. The content of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in it is a standard that can fit in the chamber of measures and weights. But how tasteless and fresh, you would know! Everything seems to be good - useful, high-tech and very expensive, but for some reason I don’t want to eat it.
A similar feeling of rejection causes me the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Reason screams: for electric cars the future is enough to pump out oil in tons and use expensive methods to convert it into fuel for gentle monsters! But the soul asks for something else - a symphony of rumbling sounds from under the hood, an impulse passing through the body from pressing the gas pedal. Even the smell of gasoline I like, do not get it wrong. And the price tag of this "Greenpeace" simply offends my sense of justice. Almost two million rubles for a car capable of satisfying only the midgets? Do not forget, by the way, that in order to overcome the path from work to home, you will be forced to abandon the stove, music, use wipers and turn signals (I generally keep quiet about the lights), and even better, breathe through once.
No, really! I agree to work with a shovel for hours, digging holes for planting trees, than transfer to an electric car. Let there, in the distant future, our descendants stare in bewilderment at the photos of the gas station, let. But I do not want to live to see the time when I have to eat food from tubes and ride electric cars.
FILL IT UP, PLEASE
I like the electric car, so I stood up for his defense. During the test, I was afraid of one thing: would electric shock me? He also carried rubber gloves with him. So, just in case
I like the electric car, so I stood up for his defense. During the test, I was afraid of one thing: would electric shock me? He also carried rubber gloves with him. So, just in case. I like the electric car, so I stood up for his defense. During the test, I was afraid of one thing: would electric shock me? He also carried rubber gloves with him. So, just in case.
It’s easy to charge an electric car. We drive up to the compact console of the charging station (the time for a full charge of the battery here is from 3 to 14 hours, depending on capacity). After attaching a key card to the top of the rack, we open the casing, behind which a pair of sockets: for ordinary (single-phase, 16 A) and for fast (three-phase, 32 A) charging. We connect the cable and close the casing. The fact that the process has begun will be reported by the LED on the rack: it will turn purple from green. When charging is complete, the display under the casing will display the amount of “flooded” energy. We apply the key card again, disconnect the cable, and you can go. Money from the account (bank or Yandex. Money) will be written off automatically.
It was not possible to charge our i-MiEV using the cord lying in the trunk: the socket plug and the charging process control unit are too close - the latter prevents the charging console cover from closing.
ATTACH TO A SOCKET
The Russian company Revolta, which implements the project of electric gas stations in Russia, managed to acquire renowned partners: the Investment Fund Enerfand, the Moscow government. The company’s website informs about nineteen planned charging stations in Moscow and the region, of which twelve are within the TTK. The “available” status is still lit at four points, all in the closed territory of the MOESK office on Sadovy.
However, within two years in Russia should appear 2000 (!) Charging stations for conventional and accelerated replenishment of energy (single or three-phase connection) and 100 for high-speed. In the second option, they charge with direct current: the battery will be filled with energy by 80% in a couple of tens of minutes.
As long as the system accepts only Revolta network cards, in the future payment methods will be added and to top up the balance will become as simple as now - a telephone bill.
HOW DO THEM?
There "electro" steps wider than our GOELRO. There are at least fifty charging station networks all over the world! Another hundred are being built and designed. In Berlin, Paris and London, the number of power points for electric vehicles exceeded one and a half hundred. Moreover, in large cities, several infrastructure projects for electric vehicles are being implemented comprehensively at once.
In Germany alone, four powerful energy companies eagerly embarked on a new niche. They are helped by automobile concerns. Renault is involved in the creation of a similar network in Israel, Nissan in Japan. In some places, the electric car retains the status of an exotic toy, so owners are allowed to draw energy for free - even at specially designed charging stations. In general, the soil for the growth of the fleet of electric cars, especially in Europe, is fertile.
