2013 Tuxedo Black now in action - first 24 hours:

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

Hi Everyone,

Picked up the new FFE last night and love the experience so far! One of my favorite features right away was the look and performance of the HID headlights - the strip of LEDs along the top make the front of the car look great at night. Its been cold here in the West Chicago area for the past few days, and so I was experimenting with the heated seats and climate control quite a bit to see what effect they had on range. It appears that at 32~ degrees external I see a 9 Mile drop in range the moment the heat is turned on (temperature and blower speed do not appear to effect the estimated range, though I'm sure the net effect would be different at the end of the trip). The heated seats do not appear to effect estimated range when active, and are very much appreciated in this COLD!

This morning's 25 mile trip to work was a fun learning experience with the car. By the time we arrived, the estimated full range of the car was up to 85 miles. I was very happy to see that, though I was being very careful to make the most of regen and climate control. We have a level 2 charger (Siemens VC30BLKB) arriving later this week - but so far with at home and at work charging on the "low power" included cord, I'm able to keep the battery nearly topped off.

What a great car! (more to come)

 

[thait84]

Good to hear! I am waiting for my L2 charger as well. How did you decide on that specific model?

I love the quicker L2 charging of the FFE as opposed to the Leaf. It is nice to be able to stop by some place for an hour and get back 20 miles.

 

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

I liked the NEMA-4 rating of the Siemens charger, and the fact that it appears to be a full 30 amp unit. Also, they sell it on Amazon, and with my prime membership shipping was free. I'm continuing to be surprised by the low voltage charge cable that I'm using in the meantime, which is netting me a full charge by 4:20AM tonight (arriving home at 5:30PM with 28 miles remaining). I think use of the climate control is causing more range-anxiety than any other factor of the car right now.. knowing that I can turn it off and have the range estimate jump by 8 or 9 miles is hard to resist - even though its pretty cold!

The level 2 charger is arriving tomorrow and electrician will be showing up for an estimate on the 240volt 40 amp circuit it will require. Hopefully the install will be reasonable.

One last oddity - I thought that I could reflect the surplus and "butterfly" gauge on the primary navigation screen but have not found a way to do that as of yet. Maybe it is just limited to the smaller (right hand side) drivers gauge?

Car is incredibly awesome, continues to amaze, and co-workers are very interested!

 

[Hocus Focus]

Your expectation is completely understandable considering the graphics displayed on ford.com. That software version (that displays butterflies on the center console) is not available so far as I can tell--might have been on the redacted September update.

Here's some Tips: after a full charge reset your Trip odo and set for complex view. "Empty" is about 19.0 kWh for me. Overcome your range anxiety with math--if you average 250Wh/mi then each kWh gets you 4mi. ~19kWh x 4mi = 86 mile range. Just an example of figuring your range. Of course, terrain and climate control are important considerations. Configure MyView to show instantaneous power and Meter (read about your budget/cup and add average arrows). Typically, I have a 500W draw for just "Other" (battery conditioning and 12V system charging) and don't use any Climate as I live in temperate San Diego. It took me a few thousand miles to infer all this information but it starts to make sense after a while.

 

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

Thanks for the tips Hocus: I was looking for an instantaneous readout last night - its pretty amazing how complex the system appears when you first delve into it. Hopefully we will have the interfaces sorted out in the next few hundred miles.

After arriving at work this morning, the estimated full range is now up to 88 miles. That result is making me extra happy with the purchase! The low voltage cable is continuing to provide enough of a charge for the daily commute of 50+ miles total with slow charging at home and at work.

Our MyFordMobile account finally activated itself this morning and so I was able to set the preconditioning schedule, as well as see tons of telemetry about the car via website or mobile. Ford really has packed a lot of tech and supporting data into this car!

Another nuance that I found interesting (first ever hybrid or EV for us) was how light of a touch on the brake pedal can cause regen. I feel like I can almost coast with my foot resting on the pedal, and still get juice back.

 

[dwf123]

Hocus -

Configure MyView to show instantaneous power and Meter (read about your budget/cup and add average arrows). Typically, I have a 500W draw for just "Other" (battery conditioning and 12V system charging)

I don't understand this.... "Configure MyView" do you mean in the car on the driver's display, or on the dashboard in the touch screen.

"Read about your budget/cup and add average arrows.) Again are you talking about the battery images with the 5 min intervals? What am I missing here????

Wood

 

[DeepEV]

Ford dealer says neither 2012 or 2013 has the feature where navigation displays charge status or butterflies, yet it's still on their website as of today.

 

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

This morning after arriving at work the estimated full range is still up there at 88 miles. I should add that our commute starts out in the morning with two adults and three children in the car! We have one full sized baby seat, one booster seat, and one child without. Rear seat room is definitely tight - but very acceptable.

Thats unfortunate about the central display area not showing the charge and driver performance- I was looking forward to that. Maybe they will add it back in at a later time.

 

[dmann000]

It looks like it will come in an update soon:

http://www.ford.com/technology/electric/drivinganev/
under "The Future All-Electric Dashboard"
*2013 MY Focus Electric screens shown; coming Fall 2012

 

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

New observation of the day:

The media's portrayal of the Focus Electric having compromised storage space really got me shaking my head this morning. Admittedly, the available room under the hatch is small compared to other cars. Anyone buying a regular Focus-sized vehicle planning on carrying around loads of cargo is simply looking at the wrong vehicle - electric version or not. The fact is, if you remove the cargo cover there is easily enough room for a full trip to the grocery store for our family. We can put strollers and backpacks in there: anything a normal family might be carrying around. All of these reviews coming in saying that the space is inadequate just leave me wondering if these people are repeating the same misguided mantra: they have not experienced true daily use of the car.

Car has been flawless all week. 231 miles on the clock. Happier with it every day!

 

[spidey4EV]

Hi you may have picked up the EV I looked at a few weeks back at Fair Oaks...with leather seats...yes? If so, what did you end up paying....if you don't mind sharing The sales person there stated that they would give me 0% for 60, but I did not really confirm that. Did you get financing through them and the terms?....or? I am looking at trying to get one in the near future. Thanks!!

 

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

Pretty sure this is the same car - they do have another black one with cloth seats as well. The whole purchase process on this one was not what I was used to. Normally I go in and suggest something around invoice price or 500 above. There are around 6 of these cars available right now in the entire Chicago area right now, and I think that makes the delerships feel like they have something special. Three weeks after the initial low-end offers with no response and other dealers ignoring me and not budging on price, I decided I would just take the 500 off MSRP. I hated to concede the price, but I was worried that I would not be able to locate a car in the color and configuration that I wanted before the critical end of the year buying period. I wasn't keen on carrying the $7500 federal rebate through an entire extra year, and am worried that the state's $4000 rebate might run out of funding.

Several factors right now make me happy with the purchase - even at that price:

1. Car is showing an estimate full range of 91 miles right now, with 94 peak today.
2. I have not driven my 16mpg SUV once this entire week.
3. I can claim the 50% rebate on EVSE equipment and install if I complete it by Dec 20.
4. I get a $7500 credit in a few months.
5. I (hopefully) get a $3920 check from Illinois EPA in a few months.
6. Lack of cargo space is completely overblown. (the charge cable compartment lifts right out, offering a ton of extra room)
7. I guess I have more positive factors than I thought.

This car continues to blow me out of the water based on my initial expectations.
The range is so good, I'm actually starting to regret buying a level 2 charger and having to install it. Low voltage charging at home and work has netted 300 Miles driven this week.

 

[Rwbill]

Hi Dream,
Glad to hear things are going well.

I only run 50 miles or less a day, but for me the Level 2 charger makes it totally practical. It can completely recharge at night in less than 2 hours usually. This fits neatly into the Dominion Power off off peak rate between 0100 - 0500 of less than 6 cents per KWh to charge, meaning perhaps 60-80 cents a day, compared to $35 a week in gas. Using the 110V cable it would take 8 - 10 hours to charge that amount, and would have to start charging way earlier in the evening.

I have been experimenting around with the gauges to try and find a more instantaneous display of power usage. I'll have to reread the comments here and in another thread. I think I've been on that display but didn't know what I was looking at. I know on one display with the appearance of a AA battery a white line goes quickly up or down as in cruise control it goes up a hill or starts going down.

Personally I don't have any use for the butterfly display, I like numbers, lol!

I also am thrilled with this car, although I have had a glitch the last 2 days with the center console going blank and non-responsive as I describe in another thread. Anyone with any similar experience please reply on that thread if you can find it. Thanks.

 

[spidey4EV]

thank you very much for the follow up, very helpful info One quick question what exactly is the 50% EVSE rebate you mention? Does it expire this year...Fed or State?
Thanks!!

 

[Ram]

I have had my FFE for five days now and have gone 454 miles. I am loving it. My biggest challenge so far was using a public ChargePoint charge station. I was down to 10 miles and arrived at what the car computer said was a charge station, Edison. No station found as it was an Edison worker location. I went to the next closest, Chase. No charger. I called ChargePoint and luckily they guided me to a Walgreen Pharmacy. It was locked. I called ChargePoint again and they were able to remotely unlock and set me up using my Mastercard. Whew.

 

[Rwbill]

good one, ram. I'm sure I wouldn't have purchased this full EV if I hadn't been comfortable my whole daily routine was within reasonable range of the Focus.

Do you carry the 110V cable with you? I always wondered if in an emergency I could just sidle up somewhere and plug the 110V cable in, like behind a motel, closed gas station, etc, lol.

Unless I drive to another state to visit my daughter(s) this Focus will cover 100% of my driving routine, work week and weekend shopping.

After just one week I realized I couldn't even imagine driving another car for commuting, the Focus just makes so much sense for my situation. There will always be a place for Internal Combustion Engine vehicles and the power and range they need, but for those with predictable commuting ranges the EV is spectacular. Still too expensive for everyone to lay out this much money ahead of time though.

 

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

Here is the link to the Illinois-specific rebate for 50% of the equipment and installation charges for level 2 charging stations up to a minimum of $3000 for non-networked chargers:

http://www.ildceo.net/dceo/Bureaus/Energy_Recycling/ev.htm

I really just stumbled across this one during the last few days of my research before purchasing the FFE last Monday.

Had a great weekend with the car! Went grocery shopping, drove around with stroller in back, trip to Target etc.. We were able to do everything we would have done with our 3 row SUV. For fun I cleaned out the poor beast (2010 Nissan Pathfinder) and pondered its future. I certainly did not expect to feel this way after one week. My last hope is that we may get to use the SUV during some major snowstorm in the next few months. Maximum estimated range is hovering above 90 miles now, currently 94 at the end of day. Hopefully our level 2 charger will be installed this week, so I can see what effect that has on the whole experience.

thank you very much for the follow up, very helpful info One quick question what exactly is the 50% EVSE rebate you mention? Does it expire this year...Fed or State?
Thanks!!

 

[Rwbill]

Yes I'm keeping my small Saturn SUV Vue, it's a 2002 model 4 cyl, all paid for and low insurance. In fact I need to move it around and drive it today for an errand just to keep it viable. If I need a long trip out of state or to haul a Christmas Tree or other things around I still want this available and working, but I haven't purchased any gas since I got the Focus in September (well, rent a car yes, and filled my work vehicle at the motor pool pumps, lol ).

 

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

3000 mile update! What a great car this has been for the past three months! We have had zero problems or error messages so far, and have not yet run the car to zero. The closest call so far was a cold winter evening drive of 55 miles to the airport and back - we made it home with 7 miles remaining by using the "eco-route" feature within navigation (before that we had negative 2 miles estimated!) By removing all of the cargo management covers and boxes we were able to free up a lot of room for pretty much anything we would bring home from regular shopping.

I have noticed that any external temperature above 40 degrees results in an estimated range within 70 to 80 miles, and when the mercury (old schoolie) drops to twenty and below, we see about 55 to 60 miles.

Super-cool benefit to this car was switching to real-time electricity rates in the Chicago area. Even with the addition of car charging we are seeing a 50$ per month savings in our bill! 3.5 cents per kwh average rocks! Everyone else in the area, check out the Real Time Rate program!

 

[dmen]

I'm in Chicago- I didn't know real-time rates were available here. Do you have ComEd? I'm still not sure whether I'd go with it. My typical commute is only 15-20 miles a day, so the savings would not be huge for vehicle charging. And for 4 months a year we will be using much more day-time electricity for the A/C. Worth looking into, nonetheless. Thanks for the tip!

I wonder if you can share whether the $4000 Illinois vehicle rebate came through yet? I purchased my FFE in December and submitted the forms right away, and haven't heard anything back yet. I wasn't expecting Springfield to be super-speedy, but a month seems long enough, right? At least to hear something...
Unfortunately I didn't get my level 2 charger installed fast enough to beat the EVSE rebate deadline. Of course I don't really need level 2 right now with my commute, but in the summer am expecting to do a lot more 50-80 mile trips so I'll be installing one later this year.

Anyway, maybe see you on the road one day...