Fully charged on a brisk March morning, the all-electric Mitsubishi i's range meter estimated that the battery pack had enough energy to travel 56 miles. That's plenty, I thought, for the several-stop route I planned to a neighboring town and back. But as I pulled out into traffic, I flicked on the heat and watched the range meter recalibrate, dropping the estimated range down to 37. I did a quick mental calibration: A few miles to the first stop, 12 miles on the highway, 12 to return, another five to the next location, and so on. I then had a choice to make: Either shiver in the car or risk getting stranded. I chose the former.

Of course I could have made the ride a more comfortable if I'd used the car's little remote fob to preheat the interior while it was still plugged in. The trouble is that the little receiver, which has a tiny antenna like something from a 1970's-era sci-fi movie, isn't at all clear. I thought I had engaged the pre-heat function, but when I got inside, the interior was the same 30 degrees as the ambient air.

Larry Webster

Chalk that up to driver error. Errands completed, I pulled up to public charging station, conveniently located in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. The two stations are part of the ChargePoint network, which has charging points throughout the country (they're easily located via chargpoint.net). Typically, you need a special RFD card to operate the charger, but I called the phone number on the unit and the operator turned it on—for free. It's a Level II 240-volt unit, which should fully replenish the Mitsubishi's 16 kwh battery pack in about seven hours (the range meter indicated I had only 9 miles remaining). Before I left the car, I checked to make sure that the little charging icon was illuminated.

The indicator light, by the way, isn't all that easy to see from outside the car. To be sure, I got inside. There's a picture the light below (Disregard the indicated 78 miles of range—that was on a different—and warmer—day).

Larry Webster

Eight hours later I returned, but something had gone kerflooey. The battery was barely charged and I had just 15 miles of range. That was plenty to get me home, but not enough for the shopping my wife wanted done. Truth be told I was grateful for the excuse, but what if I had something important to do, like go inspect that 1965 Buick Wagon I found on Craigslist? Or what if my commute was longer than 15 miles?

In less than 12 hours, then, I experienced all the hazards of EVs. Once mundane tasks suddenly required planning and thought. And one slight bobble—like the charging inexplicably not working—could dash even the best laid plans. I'm not sure my feeble brain has the bandwidth left to compile the required permutations.

Of course, that's the case with any electric vehicle, and I returned home thinking that the main objective of trailblazing electrics like the Nissan Leaf and this Mitsu is to get us used to the idea that an EV future—one that might never come to pass—is going to involve some compromises.

So what about the rest of the car? The i is a strange bird, a tiny car built for Japan's tight confines but widened for America. It putters along alright and has plenty of room for four passengers. But it feels chintzy, like it's something between a real car and a cart designed for retirement communities. The important dash readouts, like the range, are buried in a small screen and accessed with a tiny button, just like the one that resets the trip miles.

At $31,975, the i is about $4000 cheaper than the Nissan Leaf. It's a bit of a head-scratcher that Mitsubishi is even bothering with an electric vehicle when there are cars in the lineup—like the aging Galant—in urgent need of attention. At least EV buyers have a choice and can stretch for the Leaf.

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