Some Geek Squads to start driving plug-in Mitsubishi i-MiEVs

With the amount of use Chuck gets out of his "Nerd Herd" mobile, plus our own anecdotal sightings of Geek Squad vehicles around town (see what we did there? Science), we'd say that they're ripe for EV replacements, and what better than the hard-to-pronounce i-MiEV from Mitsubishi to do the job? As announced at the LA Auto Show on Thursday, a few Best Buy Geek Squad locations in California are getting access to the cars in January, with minimal fleets that will expand to the other stores over a few years. For now it's going to be an experiment, and primarily urban, but we like where this is headed. As in, "not to our house, because we're perfectly adept at setting up a wireless network, thanks."

[Fanman Posted Dec 4th 2009 7:03AM]

Top Gear did better.

[DTJ Posted Dec 4th 2009 7:27AM]

What are those? 10" wheels?

[barry99705 Posted Dec 4th 2009 12:32PM]

@(Unverified)
175/45R17

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 4th 2009 7:51AM]

I wonder if Mitsubishi will charge the Geek Squad $130 for "in store vehicle setup"?

[Stereotype Posted Dec 4th 2009 8:13AM]

Yeah but does this car have a self-destruct feature?

I like Chuck's car better.......

[Blackstar Posted Dec 4th 2009 8:14AM]

That's got to be embarrassing to be downgraded from a VW Beetle to a MiEV. Next will be a Smart42 then a tricycle.

[barry99705 Posted Dec 4th 2009 10:05AM]

@Blackstar I'll take the 42 over either of the other cars.

[pavelbure Posted Dec 4th 2009 8:25AM]

BestBuy: "How can we make these guys look dumber ?"

[Volker Posted Dec 4th 2009 8:52AM]

@pavelbure More like, "How can we humiliate them even more?"

[Hoobaloo Posted Dec 4th 2009 10:55AM]

@pavelbure More like: "How can we make them look even more like Geeks?"

[Dr Yusuf AlKindi Posted Dec 4th 2009 8:38AM]

Because the Collider is so large, we use one of these to ride around the lab.

[NikAmi Posted Dec 4th 2009 8:59AM]

The question is, will the Geek squad try to fix the car when they're not qualified to only breaking it further and then suggest that the only fix is to scrap the car and start from scratch with a brand new one?

[artist Posted Dec 4th 2009 9:23AM]

so that's what they do with all that profit from those overpriced microwaves and monster cables...

[Seraphim Posted Dec 4th 2009 9:46AM]

@artist
Great, now Monster has to subpoena Engadget just to sue you. See what you started???

[barry99705 Posted Dec 4th 2009 10:07AM]

Does it have charging ports for their "Undercover teen aged female cleansing monitoring devices"?

[d3sc3nd3ncy Posted Dec 4th 2009 10:13AM]

Geek Squad to become dork squad, confirmed.

[JClay Posted Dec 4th 2009 10:36AM]

Why do they insist in using foreign cars instead of domestic for the U.S market?

[Harrison Posted Dec 4th 2009 11:13AM]

@JClay Perhaps it's the fact that there is no domestic equivalent that they use Mitsubishis.

[SirNoDroin Posted Dec 4th 2009 11:29AM]

@JClay plenty of americans have large investments in Mitsubishi, as do many germans, japanese, and others in american car companies. Welcome to the year 2009, maybe you got stuck in the 1960s?

[barry99705 Posted Dec 4th 2009 12:26PM]

@JClay Because there are no good domestic cars. My car is Japanese, but built here in America, I figure that's a good trade off.

[aaronaaron Posted Dec 4th 2009 11:02AM]

Ahh, :-)
Look at what Best buy can now do with all its newfound extra income, thanks to CircuitCity fading away!

[rcappo Posted Dec 4th 2009 11:18AM]

I think that car looks 10x better than the VW's they have now.

[SirNoDroin Posted Dec 4th 2009 11:32AM]

as an ex-geeksquad memeber. I think the money would have been better spent giving Geeksquad agents a competitive income, so they could hold on to/GET quality technicians rather then the idiots that occupy 90% of the stores. When you only get 1-2% of what best buy gets for 100% of your own knowledge and labor...their is something wrong with that.

[Funke Tobias Dr Posted Dec 4th 2009 11:45AM]

In news from 2010:
Four Best Buy Geek Squad members killed in grisly crashes in 2010. Automotive safety experts suggest they would have all survived if they had been driving something more substantial, even the Geek Squad standard issue VW Beetle.

[Ironhide Delta Posted Dec 4th 2009 12:23PM]

You know, with all the crap Engadget gives Geek Squad, the service exists for a reason. While people who read this blog are no doubt perfectly adept at setting up wireless networks, have you ever tried telling your 50 year old grandfather or grandmother how to set up a router? Or for that matter telling her how to set up and control her new tv and home theater system with the 4 remotes it all came with? Yeah. Not all of the customers out there are capable of understanding how it works. They can use it yes, but connect it all? Not the targets that Geek Squad services are for. And for the record I'm a Geek Squad home theater installer. I like to think I'm pretty good at my job.

[barry99705 Posted Dec 4th 2009 12:39PM]

@(Unverified)

Yes, I have walked several family members through setting up their networks over the phone. I've also had to go and fix stuff after Geek Squad has screw up their systems. Honestly, if I see Geek Squad as a previous employer on an application they don't make it to the interview unless it's a help desk position.

[Ruiz Posted Dec 4th 2009 1:45PM]

@barry99705

Do you also deny interviews based on the University they attended and the types of volunteer work they do?

You might as well be.

[Funke Tobias Dr Posted Dec 4th 2009 2:23PM]

@barry99705

"after Geek Squad has screw up their systems..."

If you make mistakes like that on your application, I'd not give you an interview either.

[uShak Posted Dec 5th 2009 3:37AM]

@barry99705

That's just ridiculous.
So even if Geek Squad was their first job, and they graduated from a good university, and worked for IBM for a little bit, they still will have the short end of the stick in your candidate list.

I feel sorry for your inadequate ability to a fair and reasonable hiring process.

[Mitchell2 Posted Dec 4th 2009 3:40PM]

I thought there was just a post about how you guys will no longer be doing that crazy "Capitalized letter, lower case letter, capitalized letter, capitalized letter" thing anymore? I think this is the post: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/30/editorial-the-engadget-style-guide-reaches-a-milestone/

Yet you spelled out "MiEV" with all the correct uppercase and lowercase letters.

[aoi tsuki Posted Dec 5th 2009 4:37AM]

@Mitchell2
They're adhering to the rules except for where they aren't. That's rule adherence works.