Insignificant News Flash - i meets Leaf

[adric22]

So lets hear it. What features make you like the Leaf that much better?

Well, most of it was pointed out by the original poster.. But I can give my take on it in my own words.

• One of the main driving factors behind wanting the Leaf is because it is very high-tech. That is why I drove a Prius for many years. I like the digital readouts on the dash and the center console. I like to be able to look at my energy usage and navigation, etc. The i is about as boring as they come in this regards
• I like the styling better. The Leaf looks unique enough to stand out in a crowd but still looks like a regular car to most folks. The i Looks like a smart-car or worse, one of those neighborhood electric vehicles.
• The Leaf is much more powerful with a 0-60 is almost half the time of the i
• Since I wanted to be sort of an ambassador to the world for the cause of EVs, I wanted to make sure when I take others for a drive that they will be very impressed with the car. Not just because it is electric, but the car as a whole. I think the i is just too strange on the outside, to plain on the inside, and to slow to really appeal to the average person. People who take a ride in it will probably be thinking "if this is what I have to downgrade to in order to go elelctric, I'll stick with gasoline." Where, when I take people for a ride in my Leaf they are very impressed with the vehicle. The very first thing people are shocked about is how fast it is. Most people assume an EV will be slow.
• I feel that Nissan has expended significant resources to make the EV a reality. They have produced a car that they actually "want" to sell to the world. I feel that both GM with the Volt and Mitsubishi with the "i" have produced a car that they purposefully know won't sell very well. In GM's case it is the price, in Mitsubishi's case it is the reasons I listed above. I just feel like Nissan is the only company that is serious about selling EVs. I wanted to take my busines to them for that reason.

 

[edatoakrun]

Yes, The LEAF is probably a "better" value for many US buyers than the i at todays list price, and that was a factor in my purchase decision.

Just the cost of the larger capacity LEAF battery, exceeds the cost differential.

But, remember that every BEV or large-capacity-battery-equipped hybrid in the US market today, is sold at well below production cost, and the current exchange rate makes it very difficult to build any car in Japan, for the US market, profitably.

We can be grateful that Nissan (hopefully) has plans allowing large-scale US production to bring costs down below sales prices, in the near future.

But I don't think the i's price reflects much of anything, other than Mitsubishi's less advantageous current market position.

In the long run, BEV buyers will not be as fortunate as we were, and will have to pay for what they get.

So the fact that Mitsubishi has clearly taken a less-expensive-design approach than Nissan, in their first BEV, could give them a longer-run market advantage.

And the fact that the i is a superior BEV, to the LEAF, for many buyers, like the OP, will, I think, make it likely that Mitsubishi will sell all the i's (that it can afford to) in the US market.

 

[EVDRIVER]

So lets hear it. What features make you like the Leaf that much better?

Well, most of it was pointed out by the original poster.. But I can give my take on it in my own words.

• One of the main driving factors behind wanting the Leaf is because it is very high-tech. That is why I drove a Prius for many years. I like the digital readouts on the dash and the center console. I like to be able to look at my energy usage and navigation, etc. The i is about as boring as they come in this regards
• I like the styling better. The Leaf looks unique enough to stand out in a crowd but still looks like a regular car to most folks. The i Looks like a smart-car or worse, one of those neighborhood electric vehicles.
• The Leaf is much more powerful with a 0-60 is almost half the time of the i
• Since I wanted to be sort of an ambassador to the world for the cause of EVs, I wanted to make sure when I take others for a drive that they will be very impressed with the car. Not just because it is electric, but the car as a whole. I think the i is just too strange on the outside, to plain on the inside, and to slow to really appeal to the average person. People who take a ride in it will probably be thinking "if this is what I have to downgrade to in order to go elelctric, I'll stick with gasoline." Where, when I take people for a ride in my Leaf they are very impressed with the vehicle. The very first thing people are shocked about is how fast it is. Most people assume an EV will be slow.
• I feel that Nissan has expended significant resources to make the EV a reality. They have produced a car that they actually "want" to sell to the world. I feel that both GM with the Volt and Mitsubishi with the "i" have produced a car that they purposefully know won't sell very well. In GM's case it is the price, in Mitsubishi's case it is the reasons I listed above. I just feel like Nissan is the only company that is serious about selling EVs. I wanted to take my busines to them for that reason.

The LEAF is not high-tech in the gadget dept. In fact it has some of the worst technology for NAV and other user features on the road today or even seven years ago. Even the clock can't keep time.

 

[EVDRIVER]

And, don't you just love that second regen position in the i? I forget what it is called, but it really puts the brakes on.

Bill

It's called real regen, what most EVs used to have before Nissan decided to make the car very generic and not "scary" to first time EV buyers.

 

[Spies]

The i doesn't have the battery bump behind the rear seat. For me this seems to make the cargo space more usable.

I seem to recall there is talk of trying to remove that bump behind the rear seat in the Leaf by moving both the charger and abs system to somewhere else in the vehicle. I don't believe the bump actually contains any batteries.

I have not seen my first i on the road yet but am certainly looking forward to it. Congratulations on your purchase of an EV.

 

[EVDRIVER]

The i doesn't have the battery bump behind the rear seat. For me this seems to make the cargo space more usable.

I seem to recall there is talk of trying to remove that bump behind the rear seat in the Leaf by moving both the charger and abs system to somewhere else in the vehicle. I don't believe the bump actually contains any batteries.

I have not seen my first i on the road yet but am certainly looking forward to it. Congratulations on your purchase of an EV.

The charger could be moved as well as the braking back up storage system, it is not the ABS system it is a power back up for a one time emergency usage if the power fails and it is quite small.

 

[Rokeby]

"I tend to agree with you here, and actually think that in 10 years,
we may find the i to be much more "contemporary" looking than
the LEAF, whose designers seem to have been overly influenced
by ICEV conventions."

I think that if Mitsubishi collectively has the cajones to stick with
the current design, or some close derivative, as time goes by, it
could become the default icon for the early days of mass personal
vehicle electrification. Like these three classic vehicular icons:

The VW Beetle/Bug, old and new

The 911 Porsche in all its various derivatives/incarnations

The lowly but much loved, at least in retrospect, Citroen 2cv

And even the Gen II Prius, though some would say the Gen I Insight

(Is it only me that sees a common trait of roofline curviness here?)

However, the Mother of all EV icons would be this sweetheart:

(The front is to the right, lol, hehe!)

Mother Mitsu, would you please commit to producing this car,
and hurry-up quick too?

 

[edatoakrun]

However, the Mother of all EV icons would be this sweetheart:

(The front is to the right, lol, hehe!)

Mother Mitsu, would you please commit to producing this car,
and hurry-up quick too?

And since it's a coupe, Mitsu would, IMO, be justified to increase the battery capacity, motor output, and price, to LEAF-class dimensions.

Keep the weight under 3000 lbs, and you'd have a quick little car, with a 100 mile FREEWAY range.

 

[Rokeby]

+1

A Tesla for the common man.

 

[EVDRIVER]

+2 And it is easy to park and has more "EV" feel then ICE

 

[Volusiano]

People have had to wait a long time to order their Leaf when it was first introduced. It looks like it was easy for you to snatch up an i-MiEV so quickly. Is there a waiting list at all?

 

[Quixotix]

People have had to wait a long time to order their Leaf when it was first introduced. It looks like it was easy for you to snatch up an i-MiEV so quickly. Is there a waiting list at all?

Well, technically I had to wait longer to get the "i" as I probably could have gotten a Leaf last spring if I had followed through with my reservation. Note that I did reserve my Mitsubishi back in July (2011).

Do you have to wait to get an "i" now if you didn't preregister for one? I'm not sure, but you might have to wait until the middle of January to get one. The dealer I got mine from had two un-reserved i-MiEV's, but they said Mitsubishi was requiring them not to sell them for 30 days. However, they hinted that if someone was ready to buy, they might be able to work something out.

 

[Quixotix]

Does Mitsubishi have any plans to install (any more- I know about the one at SOCAL HQ) DC chargers, at their dealers or elsewhere?

And if so, will they let us use them?

Not all Mitsubishi dealers will be selling the "i". But, Mitsubishi does require any of their dealers that want to sell the "i" to make special preparations for taking care of them. I assume this includes having access to a charging station.

BUT, in my case, the Mitsubishi dealer I bought from is really just a small satellite of their Nissan dealership one block away. I think they are handling all their i-MiEV needs (including charging) at the Nissan location which was already set up for the Leaf.

I wouldn't assume that a Mitsubishi dealer will have a charging station.

 

[TomT]

A guy I work just took delivery of his i. We'll try to park them next to each other when we are back after the New Year and get a joint picture. He loved my Leaf but decided that the lower price was more important to him and that he didn't need the extra features or range since he also has an ICE..

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Welcome to the forum and despite you not having a Leaf, i think i speak for the others that we would welcome you into the Seattle Area Leaf owners Facebook group. would love to see one up close and compare notes http://www.facebook.com/groups/seattlenissanleaf/?notif_t=group_activity" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

as far as why i got the Leaf; because i could. if the iMEV would have been here first, i would have gotten it, but it wasnt so i didnt and today marks 11 months of ownership of my Leaf and i still love the car just as much as i did the day i got it.

i was so desperate to drive EV i drove a Zenn for 3+ years while waiting for a highway EV to come along.

 

[adric22]

Welcome to the forum and despite you not having a Leaf, i think i speak for the others that we would welcome you into the Seattle Area Leaf owners Facebook group. would love to see one up close and compare notes http://www.facebook.com/groups/seattlenissanleaf/?notif_t=group_activity" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I agree. And even though I'm not in Seattle, and I mentioned my dislikes of the Mitsubishi I, I still consider you a member of the EV community and give you the same welcome and respect as I would an owner of a Leaf or Tesla or whatever.

i was so desperate to drive EV i drove a Zenn for 3+ years while waiting for a highway EV to come along.

Wow.. that IS desperate. I looked at those, but with the top speed of 25 mph, I couldn't even so much as drive outside of my street since I'd need to do at least 30 to not create a traffic jam. However, I did drive a PHEV converted Prius for about a year before picking up my Leaf.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Without the 35mph upgrade, the Zenn would not have worked for me either. It was still a significant compromise though!

 

[highcountryrider]

An EV is an EV. Ice cream comes in many flavors as we don't all like
the same things.

 

[FairwoodRed]

When the “i tour” came to Younker Mitsubishi, I stopped by to take a look at it. There were a few things that I liked, such as analog climate controls and a familiar shifter. I really liked the additional available regen.

But I thought the car was decidedly cheap. Not it price, but in quality of materials. It wasn’t quite roomy enough, or comfortable enough. Probably the largest detriment was not enough horsepower, because I like to drive fast.

All in all, it was an acceptable car, but the Leaf suited me better. I did note that the included trickle charger looked EXACTLY like the Panasonic one that came with the Leaf. It would be fun to put them side by side and see if any part numbers match up.

Quixotic, Congratulations on your iPurchase. I live not too far from Younker Mitsubishi. We could meet up to compare cars, discuss modifications, or just to chat sometime in the future.

 

[highcountryrider]

Maybe you could bring it to one of the Woodinville Leaf gatherings?