EVA said:
I don't know - I'm not sure a long list of changes is a good thing necessarily. If there were problems, Nissan had to fix them. If they didn't get the design quite exactly right, make changes.
On the other hand - the FFE - it is based on the Focus. How much has the Focus changed in three years? Not much really. It is being refreshed in 2015. So why would you expect the FFE to have changes? There was exactly one major problem with the FFE - the SSN problem. Ford addressed it, and as far as I can see, they fixed the problem. Some people might think it wasn't fast enough - on the other hand - would you prefer a ton of tries at fixing it that didn't really fix the problem? My personal experience, Ford and my dealer have done everything in the world to fix things quickly and right. I'm totally sold.
The Leaf is a different beast than the FFE. The Leaf is vaguely based on the Versa, but not really. It was a completely brand new car when Nissan released it. So they did fixes along the way. Ford started with a good solid car as a base, the Focus. They modified it to use an electric motor. There are a lot fewer fixes to do on a mature well built car.
Honestly, I think Ford did a great job on this car. I love driving it. It makes me smile every time I see it or drive it. There's no need to churn the enhancements just because. And there's a Tesla sitting right next to the FFE in my garage. I love both cars for very different reasons.
No need to blame Ford.
This is where I think you're missing the point entirely. What you say is true for the ICE Focus, but for the Electric, not at all. It's like saying "hey i'm fine with this Blackberry phone from 2004, so why change it" all the while everybody else now has IPhones or Androids and BB is pretty much bankrupt. Tesla has changed the electric market and they are more a Tech company than a car company. It's all about what's next. The big battery factory, the next models, the cheaper models, the bigger models, etc. Other manufacturers are moving to smaller batteries or research, Toyota wants to push their Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars and so on.
If Ford sits on the FFE and does nothing, it's pretty much a bankrupt car like the blackberry phones. And being they've sold a whopping 3000 of them kind of tells you nobody is buying them. Call it marketing, lack of press, Ford's lack of interest, etc, but a car i could get for $25K after credits and rebates should sell a lot more than 3000 cars over 3 years. Otherwise, it's a dying car that nobody will remember.
So yeah, when it comes to the ICE Focus, nobody really expects 1000 new features every year. But when it comes to Electric cars, there should be some improvement, changes, fixes, etc. Me getting 65 miles of range normally kind of means they should find ways to increase this or improve that. Only being able to fit a tiny stroller and a couple of grocery bags in the trunk should be improved. Or after my lease is up, I'll just go buy another car. And the way these other companies seem to have a real interest in alternative fuel cars, it probably won't be a ford. Ford really doesn't seem to care at all about the FFE. Because it's not about staying the same, it's about actually making a better Electric car.
This is why Tesla seems to get all the hype, the Leaf gets a lot of the sales, and everybody else seems like they are just thinking of it as a Fad. Ford seems to act like the Electric car will just disappear. Or they think it's going to be a hybrid kind of world, and these totally Electric's will go away. I've seen companies act like this in the past and it sure seems this is their agenda.
Back the my original point. If Ford just looks at the FFE as a Focus but with no gas engine while everybody else is looking at the Electric car as an entirely different concept, and most others seem to have plans on improving the Electric cars or even Fuel Cell cars, the FFE is pretty much like a blackberry phone. Except the Blackberry was actually popular.
