Seattle to Portland trip and update

So the updates. the I-miev recently surpassed 16k miles. I use it almost daily and it is still fun to drive: light and quite responsive.

This winter i did a trip from Seattle to Portland, OR, in near freezing temperatures.

The first segment was done from full charge and was about 78 miles. The other two charges were using AeroVironment electric chademo high-way. The charge started typically at around 8% and till full 80. It took about 18 minutes, which was plenty for a stop at the gas station, having lunch and visiting local super-market (this are the places where the chargers are installed). There was no wait and the chargers were all in top shape.
In Portland i used Blink chargers, near the airport, as well as Sema connect L2 in the downtown.

So i did 404 miles in 2 days in an iMiev.
The biggest finding was that i actually don't need a 85 kw tesla, and would happily settle for a 60 or 70d with super-charger.

Also a Kia Soul would probably make a more comfortable trip at higher speeds, due to bigger battery, allowing for less stops.

The european SAE-DC plugs are available only in Portland now, so e-Golf or i3 would not make it there. Possibly i3 with range extender with stops for gas.

So electric cars that can go from Seattle to Portland are: Tesla, Leaf, iMiev and Kia Soul Ev if you could get it outside of CA.

I still love my iMiev, and it still doing great.

still going strong

Spring updates include a maintenance: 2 recalls were fixed: the vacuum pump and Clippership charger compatibility. The car behaves no different and is still a joy to ride.

1 year later

1 year later the i-Miev is still going strong. A recent mishap made it our only car for a couple of weeks. So all the trips to Seattle and back are done in i-Miev. My wife has more range anxiety, than I do. Much more.

Unfortunately for her, some of the Blink quick chargers just don't work in Seattle. Thus i'm not able to top off, and finished my trip with just 3 bars. Fine by me, but that requires quite different style of driving than I have in our diesel car. Smoothness is a must.

Now we have to go to Oregon for a couple of days, from Seattle area.

So the segments determined by L3 chargers will be:

Issaquah > Tacoma Fife     37 mi
Fife > Olympia             36 mi
Olympia > Castle Rock      54 mi
Castle rock > Ridgefield   36 mi
Ridge field > Portland     57 mi
Portland > Hillsboro       21 mi

Because of issues with reliability of Blink chargers, which don't work now, I had to plan around using these as much as possible. Still I have two stretches > 50 miles. I-miev can only be quick-charged to 80%, so 57 miles is quite a stretch, which would mean ~5miles per bar. 5 miles per bar means quite a gentle driving, sub 60 mi/hr.

And it requires 5 stops. If blink = 25$. And 20 minutes x5. So it elongates the ~3 hours trip to 4.5, if ... everything works in between.

Now the challenge is the temperature and comfort. 5 miles per bar in summer, with no AC is easy. Fall with crispy air and some rain would mean Heater and AC. On highway speeds it usually means a predicted range ~40 miles.

So we're renting a gasoline car for this long trip, while our diesel is being repaired...

8000 miles passed

So far so good. Have not been using I-Miev much lately, except for grocery shopping. It's nice to work from home. The only annoying thing is the size of the washer fluid tank. It feels like it is less than half a gallon. I'm filling it in with 1.5 liter bottle, quite often.
Also either I'm blind, or I'm missing a prop for the hood, so the whole refill experience is not pleasant.
Other than that, the car behaves great, and even the interior does not squeak.
P.S. keeping my battery at ~50% charge, since it prolongs its life and I don't need long range to get groceries.

5 months

6400 miles later and 174 gallons saved comparing to the Smart car I had.
Money-wise, if i would have paid off 7500 of tax credit, it would have saved me 5$ a month to run i-Miev. So I'm 25$ back in the black, due to rising cost of gasoline.
For those who are interested in these mathematics: here is the workbook for the calculations.

i-miev diy heated seats

0. Obtain the heated seat kit. I got mine from e-bay, search for: Carbon Fiber Universal Heated Seat Heater Kit - 5 Position Dial

1. Unbolt the seat. 4 nuts/bolts. You'll need 14mm wrench/ratchet

2. Disconnect the 3 (passenger) or 4 connectors (driver). Look carefully and patiently, there is a pulley that unlocks each one.

be careful and patient, this is the key to unlocking these.

3. Take the headrest out

4. Take the seat out. It won't stand on flat surface, since it has uneven legs, so use towels and place the legs on these, not to scratch anything.

5. Un-clap the fabric

6.  Here fun begins - the task is to unlock the hook-style plastic long connectors:

7. Between the ends of the hooks insert a long metal strip. I used a hacksaw blade.

8. Once that is fully in, unsnap the connector that holds the backrest fabric together

9. Place the seat on the back and let the ripping begin.

10. Place your palm under the fabric. Your goal is to rip the fabric layer off the foam with minimal foam stuck to the fabric. By advancing your palm further, travel to the top of the middle line of the backrest, and make the cavity rectangular, so that you can fit the heating element in. It is hard, take your time. Patience is crucial.

I imagine this is how proctologists work.

11. Insert the heating element, once inserted, remove the adhesive paper slowly, stroking the fabric, so that the heating element's fabric is not wrinkled.

12. Once that is done, for the driver's seat you can assemble the backrest (the plastic hook-style strip). For the passenger, don't. It is easier to do the seat top.

13. Repeat steps 9-11 the passenger-side seat top.

14. Assemble the seat. For phase 1, clamp the backrest heating element wires to the standard seat top element of I-miev. For passenger seat - just attach the heating element's wires nicely, next to existing wiring.

Here the differences begin.

Phase 1: just the backrest heating element with standard wiring. - Just put the seat back, connect wiring, bolt it back to the car, put in plastic trim back. Note on the nuts, use low torque, don't over-do it.

Phase 2: Passenger seat. The challenge is to where to get the +. I took a look at the lightener's connector and was uninspired by the wiring's thickness. Having done it before, i decided to get the + from the battery.

To do that you need a whole to get inside the car through the "firewall". I just drilled a whole above the right front arch, and did put a plastic fastener in it, so that the wire has no chance of losing insulation and shortening to the firewall's -.

Then i soldered the following setup together: 14 avg wire + 15 amp breaker. Disconnected the 12 v battery. The breaker's wire was twisted in circle around the + bolt of the battery, and covered with solder. Then + is put on the same bolt, before the nut. The wire was fixed to existing points to minimize vibration and rattling. Don't connect the battery yet. 

Funnel the wire through the hole. It will come out inside the car. My hole was though the insulation too.

Take off the glovebox. It is easy.

Get the wire. To the right you'll see the plastic cover, that covers the would-be switches. I used it to attach the turn-on switch for the passenger seat.

On the right side you'll see plenty of opportunities to get - for your wiring harness. A word of advice - cover your terminals with solder when you can, and solder everywhere. You'll have 10 amps, and bad wiring can get really hot if not soldered properly.

The switch i got was a bit smaller than the two plugs, so i did attach it to the cover.

Then take out the clips that hold the side door trim, and place the wiring under it.

Assemble and visually inspect the wiring. Connect the battery. Warm? - put the glove box back.

My light lights up when the seat heat is on. It has potential to kill the battery in ~3 hours if left on.  That's why i like the light to turn on when the heat seat operates only.

At 5 it is really toasty. 2.5 and 3 are good keep-me-warm settings for ~freezing temperature.

Phase 3, is re-doing the wiring on the driver side, to use the 1-5 level switch. Have not got down to it yet.

So the conclusion is - i really was missing the backseat heater.

P.S. in the interest of full disclosure - the passenger airbag light now lights up and so does the passenger seat belt light. I might have forgotten to connect the weight sensor from the seat. In the worst case i screwed it up by tearing the fabric up from it. Not that i care too much now... But i'll take a look into that wiring/sensor... eventually....

3100 miles in 2 months + method to minimize capacity loss

A little more than 2 months have passed and I have found the following:

1. The front insert ahead of the dashboard squeaks when the car is cold.
the car is cold most of the time, since on long trips it is too range-consuming to heat it up. Pre-heating the car helps, however the squeaks are not only on the left and right, but sometimes in the front too. Usually that is when the temperature is near freezing. When it is 50 and higher there are no sounds. Thermal expansion in action!

2. Depending on what car you had and what you were paying for it, it may be as cost-effective to own an electric car. No doubt it is cheaper to operate, but it is also more expensive to acquire. So far my 2 month analysis shows a -46$ comparison in total cost of ownership over my previous Smart car. To be fair, the lower fuel prices did throw this comparison into the red.

3. Charging at work in the winter is a necessity, if you work ~25 miles from work. Cold range is shorter, and it would be nice to use the heater.

4. Open highway burns energy faster than a stop and go traffic.

5. I always drive with GPS, so i know the remaining distance and range. Sometimes on steep hills range range is lower than the distance remaining. Keep calm and carry on. City traffic, lower speed route, right lane, keeping the current in green will help you get to where you need to be. Just have faith and adjust your driving according to range remaining.

6. PlugShare application rocks and tells me where i can recharge in case i'm short on juice. However waiting for an L2 charger to put in some bars is far from breathtaking. Better to plan in advance.

7. I developed a habit of pre-heating the car.

8. The seat heater burns my buttocks. Repeatedly. Conversely the back is underheated. The whole seat assembly pales in comparison to Smart car's or Golf's (MK6) both in heating and comfort. So far the plan is to try heating covers, especially for the passenger.

9. USB when connected to iPhone works as a dock, and gives me turn by turn, when needed and allows me to listen to internet radio.

10. Each evening i do the math to figure out the necessary time to charge the battery (z). Then i estimate the time of departure to work (y) and the necessary delay i need to set on the keychain timer (x):

x = time between current time and required charge time (y - z).

Thus my battery is 100% charged by the time i need to use the car, and the "fully charged time" is minimized to reduce capacity loss. It matters less in the winter, but is a good habit for warmer weather. And it's a great way to stay in shape![math - wise]