Man buys 'worst EV in the world' to see if its reputation is deserved and gets severe range shock
Published on Mar 02, 2026 at 5:47 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Mar 02, 2026 at 5:47 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
This YouTuber bought the ‘worst EV in the world’ to see if its reputation was justified, and received severe range shock.
Rich Rebuilds got his hands on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and took the 15-year-old car on a drive.
Wherever you look online, this car is flagged as the worst EV ever, whether it’s a forum discussion or a comment section rant.
So suffice to say, this EV had gotten a bad rep over the years – but was it totally deserved?
EXPLORE SBX CARS – Supercar auctions starting soon powered by Supercar Blondie
Was this truly the ‘worst EV in the world’?
Wherever you look online, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is getting a dressing down.
On Carwow, a writer slammed its ‘questionable styling’ and suggested that readers go with a Nissan Leaf.
Things weren’t much better over on Top Gear, where it was credited as being the car that ‘traded style for virtue-signaling’.
Ouch.
Was it really all so bad? YouTuber Rich Rebuilds wanted to find out.
You may recall that this was the guy who bought the McLaren deemed ‘too dangerous’.
He also fixed up a ‘dead’ Cadillac with sandpaper.
So he’s up for a challenge.
The i-MiEV in question had 72,000 miles on the clock and 15 years behind it.
Those aren’t encouraging numbers, especially when a vehicle already has a bad reputation attached to it.
After charging up the car, Rich and his team hit the road, where range anxiety followed closely behind.
In a bid to save power, they refused to turn on the AC and the lights.
Accelerating from 15mph to 25mph caused the car to lose a bar of range – not promising.
This pushed them to put the car into Turtle Mode.
Things could only get better from there…right?
Click the star icon next to supercarblondie.com in Google Search to stay ahead of the curve on the latest and greatest supercars, hypercars, and ground-breaking technology
Things go from bad to worse with the Mitsubishi i-MiEV
The car began to overheat and lose power, which pushed them to check the manual for guidance.
A warning light on the dashboard told them that the battery was near empty.
Bear in mind, they’d only been driving for two miles.
At a dealership, the car got put up on a lift for a more thorough inspection.
The battery pack was found encased inside a thin plastic shield with no protective plating, which doesn’t fill us with confidence.
With the help of a diagnostic tool, it was estimated that the i-MiEV had lost 35 percent of its original capacity, reducing it to 21 miles of total range.
And here’s some real salt in the wound – the $17,000 battery needed to give this car better range is worth more than the car itself.
We’ll count this one as a swing and a miss.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
Following stints at LadBible, The Sun, The New York Post, and the Daily Mail, Ben joined the team full-time in February 2025. In his role as Senior Content Writer, his sparkling copy, the ability to sniff out a good story at 100 paces, and a GSOH quickly led to him becoming an integral and invaluable member of the writing staff.
