23 February 2012

First i-MiEV joins the ACT Government fleet

| johnboy
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miev

The Chief Minister is celebrating the arrival of the ACT Government’s first electric car:

“Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) has welcomed a new Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car into its fleet and demonstrates our commitment to working towards reducing the environmental impacts associated with conducting business through the use of sustainable transport,” the Chief Minister said.

“This includes reducing the number of vehicles in its fleet and replacing vehicles with fuel efficient, four cylinder and environmentally friendly models including hybrid vehicles.

The Mitsubishi i MiEV was selected following a short trial and replaces a conventional petrol driven pool car. It produces zero greenhouse gas emissions and travels up to 100 km between charges.

While the vehicle will use standard electricity, the trial will be used to determine how we can use 100 per cent renewable energy to power the fleet in the future.

Charge points are being installed within the Macarthur House car park where TAMS is located. These will provide convenient daytime recharging when the car is not in use. Overnight charging facilities are provided at the TAMS depot where the car is garaged to ensure it is ready for use each day.

More info on this car is on the Mitsubishi website.

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Remember these cars are for the ACT government not for fanging around the Top Gear track!! Housing ACT use vile and oh so boring Hyundai i20s and i30s to go daily from Belconnen to Tuggeranong, Civic, etc so they need something economical. If they have electric cars and, for some reason the electric car(s) aren’t charged overnight, they can’t nip up to the service station up behind Belconnen mall and do a quick fill up like they can with petrol and could with diesel.

devils_advocate3:57 pm 28 Feb 12

Deref said :

Have you driven one recently? I’ve driven a few, and “fantastic” is the word I’d use. Not the same type of response as petrol, but when you get used to using them properly they beat petrol hands-down in my book.

Yep, driven quite a few, tbh my beef is more with the new generation of deisels being used in hatchbacks and commuter cars rather than the current generation of larger capacity turbo diesels in the more traditional 4×4’s and utility/light commercials.

With the non-commercials (ie commuters) the deisel formula of big stroke/bore doesn’t really lend itself to high-rpm operation and therefore is less fun to drive with a manual gearbox, and I don’t like being forced to shift mid-corner, I like to select the bottom of the gear and then punch through the sweepers in that gear. Also while the sound has gotten quieter (at least on the inside) they still can’t replicate that nice high-pitched scream of an oversquare 4, or the burble of a v6 or the roar of an I6. Finally the block castings/design usually mean that the engine itself is significantly heavier than the equivalent petrol, which of course stuffs up the handling.

And since we can’t have any actual fun on the road any more the aural accompanyment, handling and cornering is one of the few legal joys of peddling a car on public roads.

devils_advocate said :

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Agreed. Modern diesels are fantastic, and more people would buy them if they could over their prejudice and try them out.

Well I dunno about “fantastic”. Less bad than they once were, certainlty, but with the exception of some audi le-mans specials, most fall far short of “fantastic”.

Have you driven one recently? I’ve driven a few, and “fantastic” is the word I’d use. Not the same type of response as petrol, but when you get used to using them properly they beat petrol hands-down in my book.

devils_advocate1:27 pm 28 Feb 12

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Agreed. Modern diesels are fantastic, and more people would buy them if they could over their prejudice and try them out.

Well I dunno about “fantastic”. Less bad than they once were, certainlty, but with the exception of some audi le-mans specials, most fall far short of “fantastic”.

KB1971 said :

Postalgeek said :

qbngeek said :

Here is something that the owners of EVs and Prius’s are never keen to answer – How much more environmental damage (including emissions) was done in just the manufacturing of your batteries over what damage and emissions will be caused in the manufacturing and full lifetime of a diesel car?

I know the answer, but are you willing to admit it? Your car is more harmful to the environment than most large 4WDs and all small to medium cars.

I don’t own an EV or Prius, but I’m curious to see the answer. Care to cite it?

There was an engineering article from a few years ago that compared the carbon offsets & environmental impacts of a Prius & a Dodge Ram. I cant find it at the moment but if I trip over it I will post it here.

Here is an article refuting the original but you will get the idea (I can’t find the original), fairly typical of the two sides of the greenhous debate: http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips-article/1010861_prius-versus-hummer-exploding-the-myth

KB1971 said :

devils_advocate said :

KB1971 said :

It is a great little car, zippy off the mark and is quite comfortable at 90km/h, I have driven it in the rain & it is fine. The thing is, if you are worried about on road grip & the tyres are not up to it, get better tyres.

There are two problems with this. 1) if it only goes at 90kph comfortably, then by definition it’s a second car. And all the embodied carbon that goes with that. A small or mid-size car (eg lancer, corolla) could be used by a single or a family on it’s own.
2) The thin tires are probably low-rolling resistance, high silica compound tires designed to reduce energy consumption and give longer range. Changing the tires to get some semblance of grip/steering would most likely significantly reduce what is already a very short range.

I didnt say its top speed was 90km/h, it was an example given to show that it is quite comfortable at the upper limits of our maximum speed limit.

By definition it doesnt have to be a second car, in Canberra it may get caught short on range but if you did not use it for travelling outside the city then it is all you would need. Nor did I say it was a family car, there are plenty of cars as you suggested. I just said it was a good city car that can be used for the majority of stuff that you do in your everyday life. Nope its not suited to every application but not every car is.

As far as the tyres are concerned, they are adequate for the job asked of them, the car is not high performance nor is it high load carrying. The comment by the SMH about them lacks substance as the dimensions, speed & load ratings are no different to those supplied on a Gets or a Jazz.

I might add, to all you haters that actually have not driven one or tired to live with it, have a go you might be surprised.

devils_advocate said :

KB1971 said :

It is a great little car, zippy off the mark and is quite comfortable at 90km/h, I have driven it in the rain & it is fine. The thing is, if you are worried about on road grip & the tyres are not up to it, get better tyres.

There are two problems with this. 1) if it only goes at 90kph comfortably, then by definition it’s a second car. And all the embodied carbon that goes with that. A small or mid-size car (eg lancer, corolla) could be used by a single or a family on it’s own.
2) The thin tires are probably low-rolling resistance, high silica compound tires designed to reduce energy consumption and give longer range. Changing the tires to get some semblance of grip/steering would most likely significantly reduce what is already a very short range.

I didnt say its top speed was 90km/h, it was an example given to show that it is quite comfortable at the upper limits of our maximum speed limit.

By definition it doesnt have to be a second car, in Canberra it may get caught short on range but if you did not use it for travelling outside the city then it is all you would need. Nor did I say it was a family car, there are plenty of cars as you suggested. I just said it was a good city car that can be used for the majority of stuff that you do in your everyday life. Nope its not suited to every application but not every car is.

As far as the tyres are concerned, they are adequate for the job asked of them, the car is not high performance nor is it high load carrying. The comment by the SMH about them lacks substance as the dimensions, speed & load ratings are no different to those supplied on a Gets or a Jazz.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back12:49 pm 28 Feb 12

Holden Caulfield said :

farnarkler said :

Buy diesels. Slow and shuddery but very fuel efficient and much cheaper than the Mitsubishi.

You’re looking at the wrong diesels!

Golf GTD is just one example, although to be fair, it’s not “much cheaper” than the i-MiEV.

I drove a deisel golf around England in 2010. It was cheap and went like a cut cat.

Agreed. Modern diesels are fantastic, and more people would buy them if they could over their prejudice and try them out. They also use significantly less fuel than equivalent sized petrol vehicles.

dungfungus said :

“It is a great little car, zippy off the mark and is quite comfortable at 90km/h,”

Where do you drive it at this speed in the city then?

Tuggeranong Parkway, William Hovell drive, Monaro Highway, Barton Highway, all these roads are in the city limits & the commuting range.

Postalgeek said :

qbngeek said :

Here is something that the owners of EVs and Prius’s are never keen to answer – How much more environmental damage (including emissions) was done in just the manufacturing of your batteries over what damage and emissions will be caused in the manufacturing and full lifetime of a diesel car?

I know the answer, but are you willing to admit it? Your car is more harmful to the environment than most large 4WDs and all small to medium cars.

I don’t own an EV or Prius, but I’m curious to see the answer. Care to cite it?

There was an engineering article from a few years ago that compared the carbon offsets & environmental impacts of a Prius & a Dodge Ram. I cant find it at the moment but if I trip over it I will post it here.

devils_advocate12:10 pm 28 Feb 12

KB1971 said :

It is a great little car, zippy off the mark and is quite comfortable at 90km/h, I have driven it in the rain & it is fine. The thing is, if you are worried about on road grip & the tyres are not up to it, get better tyres.

There are two problems with this. 1) if it only goes at 90kph comfortably, then by definition it’s a second car. And all the embodied carbon that goes with that. A small or mid-size car (eg lancer, corolla) could be used by a single or a family on it’s own.
2) The thin tires are probably low-rolling resistance, high silica compound tires designed to reduce energy consumption and give longer range. Changing the tires to get some semblance of grip/steering would most likely significantly reduce what is already a very short range.

“It is a great little car, zippy off the mark and is quite comfortable at 90km/h,”

Where do you drive it at this speed in the city then?

dtc said :

This would be the car that costs $49k and which the SMH Drive team reviewed as

“It may be advanced in the drivetrain stakes but the i-MiEV is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to its driving nous. Small, skinny tyres offer marginal grip in the dry that turns to poor in the wet. It’s not helped by the tall, skinny body that leans in bends, albeit not as much as expected because all the heavy bits (batteries and motors) are right down low. Bumps are also a bit of a problem for the i-MiEV. Suspension travel is minimal, so the descent from a large speed bump can reach its limits”

So very expensive, terrible to drive, potentially dangerous to drive (lack of handling and grip).

I get the whole electric car thing and I guess there is an argument that in buying one you are really funding the next generation of electric cars (so its just like a grant, except you get a car instead of nothing).

However.

Motoring journalists also voted cars such as the Camira, Magna & Valiant sedans as cars of the year. Ask anyone who owed one of these vehicles about how trouble free they were over their lifetimes.

We have one at work, yep it is little, seemingly tall for its wheel track and has skinny wheels but you know what it does best, city driving which is exactly what it is designed for.

It is a great little car, zippy off the mark and is quite comfortable at 90km/h, I have driven it in the rain & it is fine. The thing is, if you are worried about on road grip & the tyres are not up to it, get better tyres. I have also driven it with 4 people in it, it still goes quite well. 100km is perfectly adequate commuting range for the city limits of Canberra.

It has two real faults, it’s price but as with anything as they get more poular that will get cheaper & its lack of noise. I have had people cross the road in front of me without looking because they cant hear it but that really isnt the cars fault.

Holden Caulfield10:49 am 28 Feb 12

farnarkler said :

Buy diesels. Slow and shuddery but very fuel efficient and much cheaper than the Mitsubishi.

You’re looking at the wrong diesels!

Golf GTD is just one example, although to be fair, it’s not “much cheaper” than the i-MiEV.

While a lot of the commentators here are happy to knock the i-mev, I am sure as a small run-about it is a fine vehicle.

However, I think the real issue is the value for money question. For a territory that is short of cash, why are we buying a car that is 4 times the cost of a normal small car? Sure it uses less fuel, but the fuel cost of a small hatchback is bugger all anyway.

Why can’t we demonstrate ‘our commitment to working towards reducing the environmental impacts associated with conducting business’ by buying cheap cars and offsetting the carbon? Surely this would be significantly cheaper.

devils_advocate8:27 am 28 Feb 12

Thoroughly Smashed said :

Good on them. Now you can explain the relevance of demand for a ten year old track day special of which, it appears, fewer than 100 were built.

Sure. There are plenty of cars that have adopted the same sensibilities – lotus, porsche GT2 cup, etc – stripping away non-essentials like a/c and stereo, even forgoing electric window motors in favour of much lighter hand cranks. Removing uneccessary wiper blades and sound deadening. Plenty of discerning buyers have higher priorities, and these cars sell well.

At the other end of the spectrum, tata nano and such, well these adopt the same philosophy for a much different reason.

wildturkeycanoe – the Datsun 180B was the sedan equivalent of that ute on Top Gear that they just couldn’t kill. My sister had one for 15 years and apart from petrol, oil and water (when she remembered) and tyres, she never spent a cent on it. It just started first time every morning and kept going.

Modern diesels such as they have in Europe are a world away from the clunkers we have seen in the past in Australia. They are cheap, reliable and efficient.

As for battery-powered cars, they would not exist at all outside golf courses without massive government (thanks again, taxpayers!) subsidies. Despite squillions being thrown at battery technology, the bottom line is that they are heavy, inefficient and potentially dangerous. Just to add to the joy, it has recently been reported that the GM Tesla turns into a brick if the battery drains completely – eg if you get sick, go on holidays or just forget to recharge it for a few weeks:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/02/22/teslas-electric-brick-problem/

A brick as in, the wheels won’t even turn. You can’t tow it. Plus, it costs $40,000 for a new battery.

I just hope the poley bears appreciate what we taxpayers are going through so that their steadily increasing numbers can further increase. Oh, and the cute penguins, too.

wildturkeycanoe said :

In over 30 years, we haven’t made engines that much better on fuel.

Well that’s not true at all, but given how little automotive technology ends up in Australia, it’s an understandable perception.

Direct injection
High Compression
Turbo Diesel

Three technologies, often used in combination that are delivering far better power and torque from smaller, leaner engines.

I could understand them giving Kenny Koala one, but the people who will drive this need to do real work, this thing could go from one end of Canberra and not make it back to the other without an 8hr stop and motel room in between!

Wonder if anyone knows, the AFP/ACT Policing was using a Toyota Prius around the CBD for a couple of years, but I haven’t seen it in the last year. The ACT Government made a big deal about that too, whatever happened. I don’t think they got more than one in the end and even that one seems to not be around now.

farnarkler said :

Buy diesels. Slow and shuddery but very fuel efficient and much cheaper than the Mitsubishi.

Actually modern diesel cars, certainly the European ones have very nice drive trains, both fast and with a wonderful torque curve. They run a lot cleaner now too. For some reason though I think most Aussies are still stuck on that old fashioned “slow and shuddery” image so it isn’t helping. Diesels are a great way to go.

wildturkeycanoe7:29 pm 27 Feb 12

I agree about going backwards sometimes. Back in early 90s I bought my first car, Datsun 180B.
Whoop-dee-doo you might say, but this little beaut with twin SU carburetors and factory air conditioning achieved actual figures of 7.5 litres per 100km. How else could I afford to do my trade courses 100km away on apprentice wages.
Some recent 1800cc engines aren’t much better even with their fuel injection and such [Nissan Tiida between 6 and 8 on highway, Toyota Corolla 7.3L/100km, Holden Cruze 7.0L/100km].
Sure, the horsepower might be almost double, but who buys a 1.8L motor to go fast anyway?
In over 30 years, we haven’t made engines that much better on fuel.
Back to topic though, what happened to water powered engines??? They killed the guy who invented it and stole the plans?? Or is that urban myth?
Electric vehicles will inevitably fail because batteries don’t last and are very expensive to replace. Just look at your portables – mobile phones, laptops, cordless tools etc. If batteries were the answer, they’d be so much cheaper and last a whole lot longer. Be it Li-ion, lead acid or Ni-cad, you just can’t get longevity out of them unless you keep pouring power into them, which is not the aim of green power.
You only have to neglect them once and it’s game over, go flat and you’re stuck. Run out of petrol and it’s just a simple task of jerry can and hitch-hiking.

Thoroughly Smashed3:49 pm 27 Feb 12

devils_advocate said :

Thoroughly Smashed said :

devils_advocate said :

Google “Skyline GT-R N1”. It was pretty popular.

And how many of those did they sell?

All of them. They still command a hefty price premium over the standard ones.

Good on them. Now you can explain the relevance of demand for a ten year old track day special of which, it appears, fewer than 100 were built.

devils_advocate3:39 pm 27 Feb 12

Thoroughly Smashed said :

devils_advocate said :

Google “Skyline GT-R N1”. It was pretty popular.

And how many of those did they sell?

All of them. They still command a hefty price premium over the standard ones.

Thoroughly Smashed2:58 pm 27 Feb 12

devils_advocate said :

Google “Skyline GT-R N1”. It was pretty popular.

And how many of those did they sell?

devils_advocate2:05 pm 27 Feb 12

Solidarity said :

Half of it in consumer demand anyway. If you really wanted to make an efficient car, you’d strip it of things like air con, radio, electrics, sound deadening etc to make it as light as possible, but a car like that wouldn’t sell.

Google “Skyline GT-R N1”. It was pretty popular. And even today puts a smile on the face of those fortunate enough to pedal one.

Thoroughly Smashed2:01 pm 27 Feb 12

Solidarity said :

Still reckon a postie bike is the best if you really care about emissions and all that kind of stuff.

Do these things even have catalytic converters?

devils_advocate1:57 pm 27 Feb 12

Sandman said :

You have to start somewhere. I’m sure that 120 years ago that when Herr Daimler and Herr Benz revealed their revolutionary transportation contraptions everyone was like ” I could buy 5 horses and 2 carriages for the price of that. Don’t need to find gas for the horse either, if it runs out of fuel you pull over to the side of the road and it eats some grass and your ready to go again”

I think they were more concerned about the safety implications of something that could rocket passengers along at speeds in excess of 5 mph.

Much like today.

Y’see…. all these cars, the Volt, Prius, Miev etc are all sold on one premis. I mean they’re more expensive, worse to drive, have less rangem not as safe etc than a normal car… but that’s fine as that’s not why you’ll buy one, you buy one because apparently you care about the environment or something. That’s cool, whatever floats your boat but… these cars aren’t actually any better than a conventional car, and far worse than a car that already exists so… what’s the point? If you do feel you need to save the environment wouldn’t you be better off planting 50 grand worth of trees or something?

They did a comparison on the new electric Honda CRZ vs. the Honda CRX from the 80’s. This new fuel efficient super CRZ thing couldn’t even get within 20MPG of the CRX, 32MPG vs. 52 for the CRX…

If anything we’ve gone backwards.

Half of it in consumer demand anyway. If you really wanted to make an efficient car, you’d strip it of things like air con, radio, electrics, sound deadening etc to make it as light as possible, but a car like that wouldn’t sell.

Still reckon a postie bike is the best if you really care about emissions and all that kind of stuff.

OpenYourMind said :

Quoting Jeremy Clarkson on electric cars is like quoting Gina Reinhart on mining taxes.

Bazinga!

You have to start somewhere. I’m sure that 120 years ago that when Herr Daimler and Herr Benz revealed their revolutionary transportation contraptions everyone was like ” I could buy 5 horses and 2 carriages for the price of that. Don’t need to find gas for the horse either, if it runs out of fuel you pull over to the side of the road and it eats some grass and your ready to go again”

I reckon I’ll have an electric motorbike by the end of the year. That should really piss a few people off. Keep an eye out as I lanesplit and speed recklessly in complete silence at a cost of $1 per 100km.

thy_dungeonman5:57 pm 24 Feb 12

Why don’t they just ride a bike or catch a bus? much cheaper and greener and I’m sure we see a sudden improvement in the bus service and cycling infrastructure if they did.

OpenYourMind5:28 pm 24 Feb 12

For all the negative comment, I’d say you better, at the very least, get used to hybrids. Not only are hybrids creeping into all facets of motoring, they are apparently popular with youth:
http://www.comparethebox.com/blog/young-driver-choice-for-eco-friendly-cars-of-sporty-fast-cars/

Quoting Jeremy Clarkson on electric cars is like quoting Gina Reinhart on mining taxes. If you want to choose a celebrity, how bout quoting Jay Leno about his plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. It’s down 17,000kms(ish) and hasn’t had a sip of petrol yet. Toyota is bringing out a plug-in Prius in Oz this year.

I don’t think anyone is pretending that the MieV is representative of good small car buying. It’s more a step toward the future of motoring. The first domestic solar PV systems were in the many tens of thousands of dollars. The subsidies for solar are much less, but I recently saw a system (in WA) advertised for $999. The biggest challenge is of course battery technology and the cost/processing of exotic materials.

Autonomous cars are the other likely technological step we’ll see in the near term.

breda said :

A coal-fired car! What a great innovation! That’s one in the eye for the fossil fuel industry.

Well actually we did have coal fired cars in Australia during the Great Depression and World War II when petrol rationing was in place. They had large compartments on the back which burnt coal and fired the car. I’ve seen pics of them in some of the history books.

devils_advocate3:45 pm 24 Feb 12

breda said :

A coal-fired car! What a great innovation! That’s one in the eye for the fossil fuel industry.

They are charging it overnight. Look up the definition of “baseload power” and try again.

Kthnxbai.

A coal-fired car! What a great innovation! That’s one in the eye for the fossil fuel industry.

Zero emissions ….. apart from the coal fired power plant.

qbngeek said :

Here is something that the owners of EVs and Prius’s are never keen to answer – How much more environmental damage (including emissions) was done in just the manufacturing of your batteries over what damage and emissions will be caused in the manufacturing and full lifetime of a diesel car?

I know the answer, but are you willing to admit it? Your car is more harmful to the environment than most large 4WDs and all small to medium cars.

I don’t own an EV or Prius, but I’m curious to see the answer. Care to cite it?

Here is something that the owners of EVs and Prius’s are never keen to answer – How much more environmental damage (including emissions) was done in just the manufacturing of your batteries over what damage and emissions will be caused in the manufacturing and full lifetime of a diesel car?

I know the answer, but are you willing to admit it? Your car is more harmful to the environment than most large 4WDs and all small to medium cars.

Mr Waffle said :

SnapperJack said :

How much did the extension cord cost? 😉

You just gave me a flash of the future, where Harvey Norman will be selling “Monster Cable” branded charging cords for 3x the price because they’ve got gold-plated connectors or something… it beginssss…

😀

Gold!

Speaking of gold, I saw a very expensive optical fibre cable advertised, touting the fact that the end connectors were gold plated!

dungfungus said :

Expect TAMS to call tenders shortly for a specialised EV recovery vehicle.

Isn’t that just a long extension cord for an EV? Possibly with gold plated contacts, knowing how TAMS likes to spend money.

frank2112 said :

I look forward to seeing it on a towtruck after someone forgets to plug it in at night.

Towing these new fangled EVs can be a problem as the motor can be burned out. At the least, they will need a flatbed to move them. I remember when Action started buying the new monocoque construction coaches they found that if they were lifted conventionally the bus would bend in the middle so they had to invest in a monster, purpose built heavy duty recovery truck which cost about the price of two buses.
Expect TAMS to call tenders shortly for a specialised EV recovery vehicle.

Bluey said :

Same thing happened with a Prius 7 or so years ago. Saving the planet with hybrids. Then they moved to little Getz because they could get four of them for the price of one Prius which was removed from the fleet as too expensive to maintain the lease.

Most ACT gov cars are diesel i30s now with good reason. Cheap, economical and reliable.

Tokenism. Same as the bags.

And soon to be our homes it seems. The Greens “use by date” is nearly up. They will fade away like the DLP and the Democrats. They only relevant because they currently hold the balance of power in Labor’s minority government. This will change later this year.

Same thing happened with a Prius 7 or so years ago. Saving the planet with hybrids. Then they moved to little Getz because they could get four of them for the price of one Prius which was removed from the fleet as too expensive to maintain the lease.

Most ACT gov cars are diesel i30s now with good reason. Cheap, economical and reliable.

Tokenism. Same as the bags.

frank2112 said :

I look forward to seeing it on a towtruck after someone forgets to plug it in at night.

This.

Or the genius in charge sends Johnny No-Stars down to the 7-11 for a jerry can of electricity.

SnapperJack said :

How much did the extension cord cost? 😉

You just gave me a flash of the future, where Harvey Norman will be selling “Monster Cable” branded charging cords for 3x the price because they’ve got gold-plated connectors or something… it beginssss…

steveu said :

“Trial”….more environmental tokenisnt to try and paint a green tinge on the labor government.

Focus on delivering a public transport system, you idiots. The one we have at the moment is a joke.

A+

trevar said :

“Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) has welcomed a new Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car into its fleet and demonstrates our commitment to…”

And still Katy needs grammar lessons!

My dear Katy, if you start the sentence in the third person, it is not considered good grammar to change to the first person in the second phrase. Of course, you could stop pretending these are actual quotes and lay the blame on your illiterate media staff…

She could also stop pretending that all at TAMS are welcoming the car into the fleet. My guess is that the only people that get to drive it (and only on calm weather days) will be those who are being bullied.

johnboy said :

dungfungus said :

TAMS must be really short of money because they apparently couldn’t afford the rego. I wonder if the rego plates for these toy cars will have a little symbol on them to denote they are electric (like the LPG cars have on their plates). And if you buy one for your home and the motor burns out will you be able to make a “fusion” claim under your house contents policy?
What a load of nonsense this “sustainability” is.

That would be a stock photo from mitsubishi.

The image should have been denoted accordingly then. Everyone will now be looking out for the one depicted in this image and it is likely to be a different colour. I would have thought the arrival of the Territory’s first (and hopefully the last) electric car would have called for a photo of a smiling Katy with her new toy.

“Trial”….more environmental tokenisnt to try and paint a green tinge on the labor government.

Focus on delivering a public transport system, you idiots. The one we have at the moment is a joke.

“Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) has welcomed a new Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car into its fleet and demonstrates our commitment to…”

And still Katy needs grammar lessons!

My dear Katy, if you start the sentence in the third person, it is not considered good grammar to change to the first person in the second phrase. Of course, you could stop pretending these are actual quotes and lay the blame on your illiterate media staff…

The ACT government really needs to listen to Jeremy Clarkson about electric cars. Some people may not agree with most of what he says but he is spot on about electric cars. Battery technology has a LONG way to go before this type of car can be used. Also, in the future electricity may come from wind turbine or solar farms but right now it’s coal fired power stations.

“It produces zero greenhouse gas emissions and travels up to 100 km between charges.”
So excluding mining the materials processing the materials, then the manufacture maintence and electricity generation!

“While the vehicle will use standard electricity” So regular electrons not those wizbang new ones 🙂

Charge points are being installed within the Macarthur House car park where TAMS is located. These will provide convenient daytime recharging when the car is not in use. Overnight charging facilities are provided at the TAMS depot where the car is garaged to ensure it is ready for use each day.

Heres a point why not get Electric cars for everyone.. put them on a magical busway with rails and call it light rail!

I like how they say upto 100km. the 100km is going at normal city speeds, much of canberrra is 80/100km roads so the distance is far less due to wind resistance.

You’d get one trip and then you’d be worried about the battery and wouldnt use the car until the next day!

I look forward to seeing it on a towtruck after someone forgets to plug it in at night.

“The Mitsubishi i MiEV was selected following a short trial and replaces a conventional petrol driven pool car. It produces zero greenhouse gas emissions and travels up to 100 km between charges.

While the vehicle will use standard electricity, the trial will be used to determine how we can use 100 per cent renewable energy to power the fleet in the future.”

Is it just me, or is there a contradiction there somewhere?

Buy diesels. Slow and shuddery but very fuel efficient and much cheaper than the Mitsubishi.

ThrowawayAccount7:25 pm 23 Feb 12

100 KM range…so about half a days worth of good driving…before you need to charge it for 12 hours. Excellent. I predict that they will trial these (with great fanfare about our green sensibilities), then they will quietly disappear as the budgets tighten and the various agencies decide they can’t afford to drive a $50,000 i30. I seem to remember a very similar thing happenning with Toyota Prius’s a few years back..

all these companies have had recalls on li-ion batteries due to short circuits causing fire. Dell, Sony, Apple, Lenovo/IBM, Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu and Sharp.

A small engined Diesel or LPG powered car is more practical . Also the driving range will shorten to around 80 km in very hot and very cold weather which Canberra has extremes of both.

more Labour waste of money

Yesterday I had a ‘To the Householder’ envelope in the mail box, open it up and it is a flyer regarding death cap mushrooms. Seriously, did it require an envelope? What a waste of $$ for no reason!

How much did the extension cord cost? 😉

dungfungus said :

TAMS must be really short of money because they apparently couldn’t afford the rego. I wonder if the rego plates for these toy cars will have a little symbol on them to denote they are electric (like the LPG cars have on their plates). And if you buy one for your home and the motor burns out will you be able to make a “fusion” claim under your house contents policy?
What a load of nonsense this “sustainability” is.

That would be a stock photo from mitsubishi.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back3:32 pm 23 Feb 12

Eventually they’ll be mainstream enough that price shouldn’t be too much of a problem. That said, given that you can buy a brand new small car with aircon, cd/mp3 player, airbags, ABS, traction control, power steering, power windows and a 5 year warranty that uses 6l/100km for about $14,000, it’s going to take some serious pirce reductions before electric cars are adopted by the masses…

dtc said :

This would be the car that costs $49k and which the SMH Drive team reviewed as

“It may be advanced in the drivetrain stakes but the i-MiEV is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to its driving nous. Small, skinny tyres offer marginal grip in the dry that turns to poor in the wet. It’s not helped by the tall, skinny body that leans in bends, albeit not as much as expected because all the heavy bits (batteries and motors) are right down low. Bumps are also a bit of a problem for the i-MiEV. Suspension travel is minimal, so the descent from a large speed bump can reach its limits”

So very expensive, terrible to drive, potentially dangerous to drive (lack of handling and grip).

I get the whole electric car thing and I guess there is an argument that in buying one you are really funding the next generation of electric cars (so its just like a grant, except you get a car instead of nothing).

However.

Aw, but you get such a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that you are saving the planet.

TAMS must be really short of money because they apparently couldn’t afford the rego. I wonder if the rego plates for these toy cars will have a little symbol on them to denote they are electric (like the LPG cars have on their plates). And if you buy one for your home and the motor burns out will you be able to make a “fusion” claim under your house contents policy?
What a load of nonsense this “sustainability” is.

This would be the car that costs $49k and which the SMH Drive team reviewed as

“It may be advanced in the drivetrain stakes but the i-MiEV is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to its driving nous. Small, skinny tyres offer marginal grip in the dry that turns to poor in the wet. It’s not helped by the tall, skinny body that leans in bends, albeit not as much as expected because all the heavy bits (batteries and motors) are right down low. Bumps are also a bit of a problem for the i-MiEV. Suspension travel is minimal, so the descent from a large speed bump can reach its limits”

So very expensive, terrible to drive, potentially dangerous to drive (lack of handling and grip).

I get the whole electric car thing and I guess there is an argument that in buying one you are really funding the next generation of electric cars (so its just like a grant, except you get a car instead of nothing).

However.

I saw one of these plugged in to recharge the other day.

I had to fight the urge to unplug it. hard.

Here’s a pic of the ACT one.

Looks rather like the ACTION livery?

https://twitter.com/#!/tamsmediaroom/status/172530396150497281/photo/1

Yep, and all the infrustructure etc all for something that could be done better for the same price by an LPG Falcon

Good work guys.

Caractacus Potts2:43 pm 23 Feb 12

Cool, so the government has paid a $35000 premium for a car that will avoid $65 worth of carbon emissons each year.

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