By her own admission, our Electric Dream winner Jessica O'Brien ranks "below the average for tech-savvy Gen Y's" but her competition entry was bright enough to make her the pick of the finalists.
Jess once thought that a Lamborghini was an Italian meat pasta dish however she's fast learning all about motoring in a high-tech plug-in electric car from Mitsubishi, the i-MiEV. You can read her weekly weblog updates below...
Mission Unstoppable
The Plan: A round trip to Melbourne Airport to drop my father off for a business trip. After a confirmation that it did have RACV Roadside Assistance, I was able to coax one very cynical family member into the Mitsubishi i-MiEV for the 67km round trip from our house to Melbourne Airport.
In the name of testing out authentic driving experiences with the i-MiEV, I decided not to forgo basics such as the radio and the heater (The 5 degree temperature and my love for breakfast radio may have also contributed to this decision).
Key players:
1x Student on uni holidays -- and not otherwise engaged with productive uses of time (then again at 5am, who is?)
1x Father of student -- who has been given assurance with a healthy degree of embellishment about the cars range in cold weather (All in the name of road testing for you guys out there).
1x fully charged Mitsubishi i-MiEV -- there will be no recharge stations on this mitsu-marathon.
1x full-pelt heating system -- if it's 5.30am in the middle of winter, it's a non-negotiable necessity.
Results:
I have to say I spent most of the trip feeling like a bungee jumper who is scared of heights. With the range indicator always frighteningly compromised by the use of the car's heating system, I spent the majority of the time channelling a 'don't look down' mantra to combat my ever-increasing range anxiety.
I made sure to drive in (E) gear in order to take maximum advantage of the car's regenerative braking system, however I'm not sure how effective this mechanism is? I must check that out.
Fortunately, my dad, who was too busy having a snore-fest to share my concerns, had a pleasant trip that was only compromised by my refusal to go through the Macca's drive-through. In high spirits, I arrived at the airport with the car estimating another 48km.
I turned the heater on and off in intervals on the trip back and managed to arrive at my street with 5km left on the range indicator. Needless to say, I was overcome with a pride of success and the kind of warmth that you can only experience when you are not stranded on Citylink in an EV.
I had managed the car's energy with a psychic accuracy. Suddenly my only regret was my years of University study, when clearly my calling in life was to star in a reality show called the 'i-MiEV Whisperer'.
However, daydreams of my hit sitcom were cut through by a telephone call that popped up on the car's screen. It was the very same father I had just dropped off about 40 minutes ago.
"Flight's been cancelled," he said. "Something about the Chilean ash cloud... Could you come back and pick me up?"
Hmmm...
Jessica's weekly weblogs:
>> Clever differences
>> Break a leg
>> Taxing conversations
>> Happy six week anniversary
>> Feeding your i-MiEV
>> Electric cars become cool in Europe
>> Just call me Julia
>> Still in a buzz
>> And the winner is...
>> Electric Dream Competition - Introduction
Related reading:
>> Mitsubishi i-MiEV Road Test
>> Mitsubishi i-MiEV joins Carsales fleet
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