The new power

Without wanting to get too technical, which we certainly could, this new all-electric motor is a wake-up call for petrol engines. It’s lighter, smaller and produces power much more efficiently.

It connects straight to the wheels, so there’s no need for a gearbox, saving even more weight.

The result is 49kW of power and 180Nm of torque. When translated from tech-speak that means it has the power to easily take you and three passengers plus luggage around town or keep pace with motorway traffic.

The other welcome by-products are zero emissions while driving and almost zero noise.

Supplying the power

The new generation Lithium-ion batteries have been designed to meet the needs of a car, and to be the perfect power supply for the electric motor. When you’re driving, all you’ll feel is a quick response from the accelerator pedal. But when you consider the potential benefits of electric vehicles, the change from petrol to batteries is a significant change.

Simple to charge

When you own an i-MiEV, the only time you’ll need a petrol station is to inflate the tyres or grab a newspaper. All the energy you need comes from your household powerpoint.

Not only is it straightforward, it’s fast. Leave your i-MiEV on charge overnight, or for seven hours, and it’s fully powered. When you need a quicker charge, you can do it in 3 hours.

Better yet, it’s very cheap to run. Based on an electricity charge of 25c/kWh, it will cost you around $5 to ‘fill’!

A new way to move

It’s not your average vehicle, so it doesn’t have your average transmission. Actually, there’s no need for gears at all because the electric motor runs straight to the wheels.

So to give you the choice of how you drive, i-MiEV offers three driving modes:

D, or Drive mode is what you use for ordinary day-to-day driving.

E, or Economy mode gives you the most efficient use of energy.

B, or Brake mode still gives you the acceleration of D mode, but converts the heat from the brake pads into electrical energy, which is then used for driving.