My good friend Paul Wasson recently took delivery on the first Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car in Oregon. Having recently done a CC on my neighbor’s 1917 Detroit Electric, I’m struck by an uncanny resemblance between the two. Since they have exactly the same 100 inch wheelbase, they’re shown in matching scale here. They have a surprising amount in common, even look sort of similar in a certain way. A branch of the automotive family tree is picking up where it left off a century ago.
Mitsubishi’s oddly named i-MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) was originally derived from a Japanese-market gas or electric kei car, but it has grown longer and wider for North American driving. It’s a four-door sedan the length of a Mini Cooper, with two full size front seats and a pretty good back seat, meant to be a daily commuting car with room for the kids. 60 mile range, top speed 81 mph. 0-60 in 13 seconds. (This Detroit Electric’s also has a 60 mile range, but its top speed is thirty. Zero to sixty is never.) Paul just plugs it into 110V in the garage, and hasn’t felt the need to install a 220V charging station. Best part is the Mitsubishi is the cheapest EV on the market now, at $22K after tax rebates in the US.
As with the Detroit Electric a century ago, all the Mitsu’s design choices reflect what electric propulsion makes possible. Unlike the Leaf, Volt, Focus and other EVs adapted from front-drive platforms, both these cars have the rear motor, rear drive layout. 100 inch wheelbase. Wheels out at the corners. The Mitsubishi’s fenders even evoke the separate fenders and running board of the Detroit Electric. Rear motor and rear drive make total sense for an electric, since the motor is small and relatively light, and there’s no need for a transmission. Just mount the motor ahead of the differential, put them at the rear, and keep the front end simple.
Looking under the Mitsubishi’s back end, we find its 145 lb-ft, 66 hp AC synchronous motor mounted transversely, and we can see its battery compartments, placed low under front and rear seats. 16 kWh lithium-ion, 330V, 88 cells. Putting the batteries under the seats results in a “short-tall” layout, raising the driver’s eye-level up with the taller cars and truck station wagons (aka SUVs).
Here’s the Detroit Electric’s brushed DC motor (power unknown), mounted in-line between the frame rails, with a short driveshaft to the live axle. DE placed 84 volts of lead-acid (or optional Edison nickel-iron) batteries up above the frame front and rear.
Peering up under the Mitsu’s rear bumper, we see the entire drivetrain and rear suspension. The motor is plainly visible, with red power cables from its three windings to the controller box directly above. Off the left side of the picture is the differential, driving half-shafts to the rear wheels. Factory specs call this a three-link de Dion rear suspension.
With powertrain down below, all that’s left in front is crush space with small radiators for the electrics and the AC, brake and washer fluids, etc. Leaving the rest of the length for people and their stuff – there’s a pretty good sized space for groceries behind the hatchback. Paul reports it’s got plenty of power for traffic and freeway. Instant throttle response and electric torque usually puts him ahead of others at the green light without really trying.
Finally, besides tires, brake wear (minimal with regen braking), and changing the air filter in the AC every year or so, here is the maintenance schedule. That’s right, every 20 years. Hey, that Detroit Electric is still on the road a century later. With new technology, electrics are picking up where they left off.
Neat car, but it would only get me to work and about halfway back home (we live in a rural farming community), and I don’t think it would pull a hay rack.
I’ve ridden in a 1911 Baker electric before (with Cole Palen for anyone familiar with Old Rhinebeck Airdrome) – it was a hoot! From their web site:
“Women favored electric automobiles because they did not require cranking and had no exhaust fumes. Electrics could travel up to 20 MPH and had a range of 20 to 50 miles on one charging of the batteries. Several manufacturers produced electric vehicles including Riker, Woods, Detroit Electric, Columbia and of course, Baker. From 1910 to 1915 the popularity of the electric car peaked and shortly thereafter gasoline powered vehicles took their place. Electric cars were expensive costing between $2,550 and $3,000 in 1914.”
One thing to consider is charging at work. As they become more common more employers will offer 220v charging stations and even the 110v convenience cord would likely give you enough boost to make it home. Many companies, depending on where they are located, are able to earn tax credits for installing/offering charging stations. I know years ago a guy that worked at the office my wife did get to charge his DIY converted Metro for free at work, in the covered “Executive Only” that he didn’t otherwise qualify for since the company got a credit for doing so.
In fact, since metro Portland is such an early-rollout town for EVs and infrastructure, there are four charging stations within a five minute walk of the office. Paul often plugs his Mitsubishi into one of them while at work. For the time being anyway, they’re free.
no future here…. unless…. Put a small pusher on the back and the range become infinite. In fact there is probably room to put one of the very small 110v charger inside the car. Not a slam dunk but if it’s a plug in it seems like its real doable.
Actually think it makes a lot of sense. Dave Arthurs 70mpg electric opel GT was around circa 1970. For lots of us this should be the future. Considering our resistance to change it probably won’t be.
I’m not familiar with the Mitsu but the Leaf, Volt and soon to be introduced (supposedly) Focus EV have their chargers on board. The 110v is fully self contained while the 220v links to the control box and turns on and off the power to the on-board charger.
Right, all modern EVs have 110V/220V chargers built in. The 110V level-1 charging cord comes with the car.
The charging station (level 2) is not a charger, it’s just a permanent cord to 220V, with the standard J1772 connector, a GFI, and a little controller to make sure the car doesn’t overload the service, or drive away while plugged in.
The 20-30 minute level 3 quick charge is up to 500V DC at hundreds of amps (100-200KW) That’s a different standard connector, and in this case the charger is in the charging station. Leaf has that, on the Mitsubishi it’s an extra charge option (get it).
Here’s a picture of the Leaf’s connectors, level 1/2 on the right, and level 3 on the left.
More range will come in time, now that lithium battery technology is taking off, and oil prices have stayed up. Give it ten years. Another 2-3x capacity and a decade’s deployment of charging stations, and range won’t be an issue.
In the meantime it’s common for two-earner households to have two cars, only one of which is the family cruiser. I had my Celica commuter for many years before I ever took it outside the metro area.
Agree… I’d definitely consider one when the range is there for commuting purposes, although cost would also play heavily in a purchase decision. My TDI New Beetle serves that purpose now (45mpg), and I have a full size truck for farm duties…
Actually, I’d love to see diesel-electric technology make some headway (no electrical storage, just a small diesel driving a generator/motor). That should be good for a 20-30% improvement in mpg…
Take a look at the Classroom EV article I submitted. Then follow your nose and take a look at some of the iterations that Dave Arthur went through starting with his opel gt, his pickup, and then his vw van.
I am no genius but I can copy. He did all this stuff years ago and laughed at the gas prices. I would love to regain some of the energy I lost during the past couple years. Maybe now that I’m an organ donal (gallbladder) I will. I would love to approach another project so that I could flip the bird to the oil suppliers.
I’ll know soon enough if I can.
The opportunity cost is too high for me… I looked into veggie oil conversion for my TDI, and backed right away when I saw all that’s involved on an ongoing basis. I’m more into “turnkey” solutions. (c:
Even in non-two earner households it is still common to have that same secnario as I know that is the case with at least one of the Leaf owners I know, while another a young bachelor it is his only car and in his first 6 months of ownership he’s managed to rack up over 10K miles.
Interesting car the Mitsubishi i. I could probably use one as my work commuter car … if we didn’t have winter. The range takes a huge nose drive at below zero temperatures. I wonder if they work at all when it gets down to -30 or -40.
Good question. Mitsubishi Canada is taking pre-orders, so they must know something about Albertan winters.
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.ca/en/i-miev/
I wonder if there’s a battery equivalent to the trusty block heater?
Again no experience with the Mitsu but the Leaf can be set to warm the car after it’s done charging and being plugged in it automatically controls the batteries temprature. In regards to keeping the car warm, or re-warming it after parking it some place you didn’t plug in or the need to run the defogger heavily my friends report about a 10% loss of range. Running the seat heaters only causes only a loss of a couple of miles of the reported range, similar to the AC losses. Granted we are in a mild climate, though of course being in a mild climate means people are less tolerant of high or low temps.
i ,m all for electric cars ..but..they will never take of until they have a 500 mile,1000 mile range and take 10 mins to charge id like the car and battery companys to make this a reality,then i think electric cars will take of in a big way until then with only 60 miles to a charge it aint gonna happen
500 mile range? Most gasoline cars don’t have that range.
If the charge time comes down to an hour from “nearly flat” to “almost fully charged” and the range gets up to 200-250 miles, I could justify adding an electric car to our fleet.
Hey, make mine the Detroit Electric with the mitsu powertrain! I’d call it the Electric Popemobile 🙂
`Truck station wagon’ seems to be catching on on this site at least.:-)
Just like brakes were the Achilles’ heel of 60s muscle cars, the damned batteries are of electric cars, in 1917 as today. Give it another century or two of improvement, *then* we’ll have modern electric cars with… wait for it… a 60 mile range. Yay. Enough pessimism, though. My dreams are with the diesel-electric solution, but that needs big batteries too, though not as big as electric only. My money, on the other hand, is firmly in my pocket.
Almost one hundred years and the level of progress is almost immeasurable. Considering what roads are like in 1917, 30 mph was probably just as adequate as 81 mph is today. Whenever someone takes advantage of the subsidy to buy their toy second car, 44% of that money is borrowed or printed. We won’t just pay for it in the future; we’re already paying for it in inflated commodities prices due to devalued dollars. At least when it comes to EV buyers, it is easy to put faces to this crime done against our economy.
I have ridden in both cars and driven the new one. You would find there is no comparison.
In today’s terms the DE is a massive sled with ghost-like acceleration, tippy handling, barely any brakes, and dangerous as all hell. Monte does drive it downtown now and then but he says it’s pretty scary in traffic. Can’t keep up or stop fast enough even on 30 mph city streets, forget main streets or freeways.
This Mitsubishi is a totally competent modern car, just as fast, comfortable and safe as any other 2012 small car. Paul is enjoying passing $4.09 gas. Actually he did stop at a gas station recently, to buy some snacks.
Let’s not get political here, otherwise we’ll have to talk about the trillion-dollar wars for oil they make me pay for. Seriously, these cars are interesting to many of us, if not to you. I don’t trash talk the cars and trucks I don’t care for, I’m glad for the variety.
This is, without a doubt, the future. For some like me, who drives a lot in a heavy, urban environment, it is ideal.
Problem is, in Canuckistan, there are no incentives to buy this car. Over 60 months it comes to $652 a month. I spend in the neighbourhood of $4000 year on gasoline for my TL. It is still going to cost at least $3000 a year more for the electric.
At $22,000, this car is a complete steal.
> Problem is, in Canuckistan, there are no incentives to buy this car
Which is a GOOD thing. The same Government that stands vilified for giving *loans* to domestic automakers has absolutely no business subsidising foreign automakers’ products at all.
The numbers and the experience are suddenly looking really good, for a second car. Quiet, reliable, clean, spacious – people are going to love this for a town car. So long as you have an alternative ride for days when you know you’re going to be doing some distance, this is a no-brainer.
I’m thinking a nice “alternative ride” would be a CC – funny how the tables would be reversed – keep the CC for long distances, and the modern car for the short stuff!