2001 Toyota Echo (Garage entry)

[MetroMPG]

How long did you have the Echo?

What's next on the list?

[davidricardo86]

How long did you have the Echo?

A little over three months. It has served me very well.

What's next on the list?

I am in the process of having a used 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV SE delivered to my front door from Ohio. My commute to work is 10 miles each way. I was also recently offered a job at a local Mitsubishi dealership, along with my current job at a local Acura dealership, so now seems like a good opportunity to jump on this. Also, I sold my 1992 Nissan 240SX SE for $3,000 so I have a little extra cash to be able get by without a problem for a few months. The Mitsubishi dealership has an Eaton Level 2 charging station that I fully intend on using to charge up my EV making my refueling costs essentially free! Plus access to Mitsubishi dealership diagnostic scan tools and certified technicians.

I still plan on getting a Mirage for when I need to travel more than 400 miles on one tank and to own that little wonderful 3 cylinder, which is rare, so an EV seemed like the lowest operating cost and least maintenance-required vehicle for me.

Reply is in the quote above

[MetroMPG]

Oh wow - I didn't realize you pulled the trigger! I was away for a week, not caught up on the forum yet.

Congrats.

[davidricardo86]

Yes I did, it came in this past Friday, April 10th! So far so good.

[MetroMPG]

Nice!

I miss my little home-built EV. I'm sure you're having a blast with that. It's a totally different driving experience and even though mine was gutless, I always picked it for short trips because it was so smooth & quiet.

[El Kapitan]

way to go! i'm looking forward to any reviews that you can give.

[alex16]

I am so jealous! I wish I had a one! I love electric cars, maybe in my future I'll be able to get one, I love my Mirage but rather have a EV! I drive over 100 miles twice a week though so the Mirage was a priorety for me. For back and forth to work, grocery store/errands a EV would be an absolute joy.

[Daox]

Nice David! Please share your thoughts on the car after having it a while.

[El Kapitan]

I am so jealous! I wish I had a one! I love electric cars, maybe in my future I'll be able to get one, I love my Mirage but rather have a EV! I drive over 100 miles twice a week though so the Mirage was a priorety for me. For back and forth to work, grocery store/errands a EV would be an absolute joy.

by the time the 10 year warranties are about to expire on our mirages (for those that keep them that long) , EVs should be much more in the sweet spot for range.

[davidricardo86]

See my 2012 Mitsubishi I-MiEV SE thread for my responses to your comments:

http://mirageforum.com/forum/showthr...(Garage-entry)


Back to the original topic, my last fill up with the Echo I made a new record average of 45 MPG! I was trying really hard to beat my last record and employing some hypermiling techniques I was able to achieve this. I am going to try for more as the summer approaches and If I put down my I-MiEV keys.

I have decided to hold on to the Echo as my winter car and not sell it. I may have failed to realized its value. I do not want to drive my like-new EV in harsh salty Chicago winters. Plus, ICEs just produce so much more waste heat that in the winter I'd rather have that heat to keep toasty on my daily commutes as it can get pretty frigid with all them polar vortexes popping up here and there.