Road Test : Mitsubishi i-MiEV

Review by Tristan Tancredi - 27 June 2012

We approached Mitsubishi's electric car with a clean slate. Tabula Rasa.

The challenges Electric Cars face are immense. It is a total overhaul of what we know, what we love and how we live. So with this in mind, we thought we would try, we really, sincerely tried to like it. We forced ourselves to drive it, to put it to the test like we would any other car.

The i-MiEV has been around since production in 2009 and since then a few have been available through fleet sales and the like. Yet it's rare to pass one on the road.

The question that lingered throughout our week with the Mitsubishis i-Miev is an important one. The electric car is ready for the world, but is the world ready for the Electric Car? Lets find out.

Drive: 2/5

The car handles itself quite well on-road. The small, light hatch handles bumps quite well, however the cabin does tend to shake at higher speeds.

Three driving modes are available: Drive, Eco and Braking. All of these modes offer differing energy conservation methods. The latter, braking mode, enables the greatest reclaim of energy as the battery recharges faster when your foot is off the throttle.

The car whizzes along in an almost inaudible way. So much so, that in a carpark you have to be extra careful not to run people over who haven't learned to "look both ways".

Now my friends, is where we come to the crux of our issues with not only the i-MiEV, but electric cars in general.

With a fully charged battery, you can get about 100kms travel. Although quite poor, it would be bearable if you could recharge your battery somewhere other than at home.

If you are out and about, you have to meticulously plan your journey, so that you don't get stranded with a flat battery. This means you are limited to 100kms once you leave your charging point.

Sure, there are charging points within the CBD, but we only came across "Slow Charging Bays" which not only take hours to charge your battery, but you often have to reserve a spot.

Basically this car is a pick up some milk, take the kids to school kind of car. That's it.

Engine: 2/5

The i-MiEV is run by a 16-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack that consists of 88 cells. Pop the hood and an experieced mechanic will simply scratch is head. There's basically nothing else in there.

The battery pack translates to a fairly slow, gutless drive. Maximum power figures sit at 49Kw at 2,500-8,000rpm and maximum torque is at 180 Nm at 0-2,000rpm.

As mentioned earlier on my rant about charging points, the i-MiEV is said to get about 100kms on a fully charged battery, depending on how you drive. We drove a full 100kms at the speed limit, in traffic and when 100kms came around we were flat and on turtle mode (the battery is about to die). So it's more accurate to say a fully charged battery will get between 80-100kms.

Mitsubishi also say it takes about 7 hours for a full charge. It took our battery 8.5, although that may be because it was in turtle mode when we started the charge.

Exterior: 2.5/5

The future has landed with the i-MiEVs exterior style.

As I approached the car for the first time I thought, this thing looks like it can fly. (Unfortunately it didn't and I was stuck in traffic like everybody else). Nontheless if you were to imagine a car from the future, the i-MiEV is it.

It's the kind of car former Greens leader Bob Brown would drive. In fact, any tree hugging greenie would love this car.

Regardless of the futuristic style, it still deemed unwarranted attention. Unfortunately it stands out, and not in that "wow, what a nice car" way. More in the, "what the hell is that?" way.

Obviously exterior styling is subjective, but not one of our reviewers rated the looks of the i-MiEV. "Too Narrow", "the winds going to blow it away" and "not so sure about the front" were the most popular comments throughout the week.

The size, weight and design of the i-MiEV all have to be modified to cater for a battery powered car, so the result is a vehicle that stylistically doesn't compare to other hatches on the market.

Safety: 4/5

The 2011 Mitsubishi i-MiEV has a 4-star ANCAP safety rating with the 2012 i-MiEV yet to be tested.

Driver & front passenger, Driver & front passenger side and Curtain SRS airbags line the cabin. Also standard is Anti-lock Braking System, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, Power brake booster with emergency brake assist system, Active Stability Control, Active Traction Control and a Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution (RISE) body are all standard with the i-MiEV.

All in all, the improvements should get the neccessary 5-star rating.

Interior: 2.5/5

Once inside the i-MiEV all thoughts of driving a futuristic spaceship are put to rest. Cheapish looking plastics line the cabin and the front dash and are quite confronting and disappointing.

Although a touch screen navigation and media system sits predominately on the centre console, the air conditioning controls are turning knobs ripped straight out of a car circa 1995. The initial excitement of driving an electric car quickly diminishes once inside.

The bucket seats position the driver in a perfect spot and provides perfect viewpoints to both the road ahead and to mirrors. The stiff, upright bucket seats however become quite uncomfortable and it's in this instance alone that the limited battery life is beneficial (You're only in the car for short stints anyway).

A digital speedo sits behind the steering wheel and is joined by the battery levels (which seem to get lower and lower every time you glace at it) and an energy conservation tacho shows how economical you are driving.

Overall: 2.5/5

The i-MiEV is a suitable car if: a) you drive short distances, b) aren't an adrenalin junkie and c) have a 15 amp power outlet in your garage.

It drives well enough, it's the way of the future and we can only predict that the electric car will get better and better, but we won't be recommending the i-MiEV to anybody anytime soon. At $48,000, no thanks.

So, to answer the initial question in the intro, yes the car is ready for the world, but no, the world is definately not ready for the electric car. Not until quick charge stations are readily available.

* Prices are manufacturer list prices only, for the drive away price please contact your local authorised Mitsubishi dealer.