cars.com auto review hi I'm Joe Weisenfelder cars.com and i just put a few
hundred miles on a new 2012 mitsubishi I electric car used to call the iMiev now
they're just going with I it is the most affordable electric car in the country
now just over 29,000 dollars that saves more than six thousand dollars versus
the nissan leaf which is the most established battery-electric in addition
to being more affordable it's actually more efficient too so it should be less
money to operate
unfortunately you give up some things actually a lot of things for one thing
the epa-rated range is 62 miles vs the Leafs 73 then there's the driving this
is not as quick even though it's more powerful than the version sold in Japan
it's not as quick as the leaf especially off the line the handling isn't quite as
good the electrics tend to feel grounded with all that way to the battery this
one's a little bit more top-heavy it wanders quite a bit on the highway
even when there's no wind and the handling just not great in terms of grip
these front tires are 145 spec that is five point seven inches wide
I have not seen a tire this narrow in a long time
the I does have some decent standard features it has your power windows side
mirrors door locks remote keyless entry all good stuff we have complained about
our leaf not having a telescoping steering wheel it only tells here in the
mitsubishi neither one terrible
fortunately for adjustability the driver's seat does have a seat height
adjustment which is extremely important even with all the way up i got lots of
heading so it's a small car and i'm a little bit snug my legs are not out as
far as I wanted to be with the seat all the way back but for a car of its size
it's probably a little bit more room inside then you would expect the
interior quality of electric cars isn't exactly great to begin with the leaf is
nothing to get too excited about mitsubishi i might say it's maybe a step
below and bear in mind that this is not the base
yes this is the SE which cost two thousand dollars more that gives you
stuff like the leather-wrapped steering wheel
leather-wrapped shift knob silver accents on the dashboard is actually a
two-tone dashboard upgraded upholstery yes this is upgraded upholstery this car
also has the optional premium package for next trip 2790 dollars in addition
to the quick charge port on the outside that adds steering wheel stereo controls
and the navigation system with a backup camera included so you see what's
happened here we have added almost five thousand dollars to that entry price and
there are still some things we don't have you can't get cruise control and
the ventilation system is manual you can get the automatic climate control that's
on the leaf also one of the things it does come with the car even the base one
is this remote-control little antenna on it when it lets you do is send a signal
to the car and it tells you what your battery level is but it only has three
little segments lets you turn the heat and the air conditioning on to its kind
of neat when you think about it the other vehicles in this class the Chevy
Volt the nissan leaf and the upcoming ford focus electric all have more
ambitious iphone and other smartphone apps that let you see much more detail
as well the backseat of the eye is actually roomie or again then you might
expect it's not terrific for long runs but the ranges in that long anyway
my knees are raised a bit is a two-position backseat but thankfully
there's no center console like there is in the chevy volt so it should be easier
to install child safety seats you've got reclining back rest etc all of this
roominess as it were
takes it all in the cargo area the hatchback body style makes the best of
the available room it's not terrible but it's also not super roomie
thankfully as usual the seats fold flat i have to say the way they package this
car so you have the backseat room and you need it and you can fold down and
get more cargo space when you need that overall for the size of the car when you
get from the outside pretty well put together on the inside you can get
details on the charging times and other things in my full review at cars.com in
brief the 25 minutes bc i may be cheaper than the nissan leaf but i have to say
people were buying electric cars these days aren't necessarily doing it to save
money in the long run they just want to drive electric and if you want to drive
electric I have to think even for six thousand dollars more
the leaf is a better car than this one
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