Mitsubishi i-MiEV Initial Performance Numbers

For Better or Worse

Using my Motorola Droid X and an application called Car Performance, I tested the i-MiEVs acceleration.  This was as much of a test of the application loaded on my cell phone as it was the Mitsubishi's speed test.

For comparison, here is a link to a site with 0-60 MPH times (and 1/4 mile times) for many vehicles.  http://www.ssmoparmuscle.com/speedcomp.htm 
Keep in mind that very few people treat every stop light like a drag strip.  This electric vehicle is not designed to be the quickest off the line, but rather to accelerate modestly and get up to four passengers around town without ever needing to visit a gas station.  A feat which it accomplishes handsomely.

Here are the results from testing performed in a very unscientific manner...

The test conditions:

• 58 degrees F ambient temperature
• 65 MPH highway entrance ramp (not true straight)
• single occupant
• dry road
• road slope: even
• wind: calm
• drive mode: Drive
• 65 PSI tire pressure
• 4 bars of charge at start

The results:

• 0-20: 1.500 s
• 0-40: 5.487 s
• 0-60: 11.432 s
• 60' in 3.502 s @ 35.33 MPH
• 330' in 7.419 s @ 50.06 MPH
• 1/8 mile in 11.437 s @ 60.30 MPH
• 1000' in 15.413 s @65.48 MPH
• 1/4 mile results don't apply since the car was not still accelerating above speed limit

I expect to repeat the test in the future (and get better results), maybe an early Sunday morning before traffic becomes an issue.  The next test will be repeated in the opposite direction to account for wind and slope variations.  Testing will also be conducted using "Eco" driving mode. 

As for the Car Performance app, it worked very well for my purposes.  It is simple in operation so there isn't any distraction while driving.  The app works with GPS to calculate speed and times.  There is a "START" button that is pressed while stopped, and the timer starts when the vehicle starts moving.  It offers the ability to store tests, which is why I'm able to report my results.  There are a few other results that it has that would be of interest to the the hypermiling side of the equation.  Those are maximum speed, distance, and total run time.