Thanks cutler,
How is the range for you? What area do you live in? How does temperature affect your range? I found with my 2013 here near Toronto my range was anywhere between 80 (heat on in cold winter with some highway driving) to about 140-150km in the summer.
Lately I've been seeing 210-225 km (130-140 miles) of range with the Spring temps, and not having to use A/C other than just the fan and/or the windows cracked. Also, I typically don't need to exceed 100 km/h (60 mph) on my commute, which helps. I would think range would be closer to 160 km (100 miles) if I drove on the highway and used A/C more.
My use in cold temps has been limited, as I only got it a couple months ago, but you can probably do the math and subtract about 1/3 of the range from the numbers above to get your winter range. It still uses the same inefficient heat method and has the huge range loss when using the heat or defrost.
I live in the Detroit Metro area, so probably not too much difference in climate vs. the Toronto area.
I'm anxious to hear how much more range there is with the 33.5kw/h battery vs the old 23kw/h battery.
How is the DC charging? 32 minutes accurate to 80%? Has the DC charging greatly increased the suitability of the car for further trips?
Sorry, haven't had the opportunity to use DC yet. There are a few EVgo stations around here at Dunkin Donuts but they aren't in locations that help me on any trips I'd normally take. Hopefully they'll add some out west or up north at some point.
Are the daytime running lights different? Mine had the white segmented DRLs.
They're the same headlights as all along, so same LEDs at the top. Mine doesn't have DRLs enabled, but I'll probably enable them at some point myself.
I don't suppose they included a subwoofer with the stereo yet because of the charger taking up space in the cargo area?
Correct. Though it's mainly the battery and BECM that are in the large cargo hump. The onboard charger is actually under the car in the transmission tunnel. And there's still the same cargo storage setup as the previous model years.
Have they improved the value charging software/menus? I recall it being somewhat limited to what times you could set your "charge from" and "charge to" times. It used to have only certain blocks of times you could specify.
Not sure if any of the time slots are different, but I could go through the menus and see. You can still set them on the MyFord Mobile site and in the app, so I'm sure they're using the same scheme in the SYNC system as well.
Can you share any photos of the exterior? I know there was a design refresh to the tailgate and back end. I've never really seen a full on picture of the back end. There's a ledge now across the back like the new Escape? Revised taillights? Are they now actually LEDs? My 2013 said LEDs in the brochure but weren't.
I would go through the gallery on the Ford website. There's a section of photos on the electric toward the bottom that shows the rear with the taillights on. If that photo doesn't show you what you're looking for, I can take some more at different angles for you.
http://www.ford.com/cars/focus/2017/gallery/?gnav=vhpnav
Happy with the car overall? Anything you don't like or could use improvement?
Yep. It's my first EV and the only one, aside from a 2013 we had at work, that I've driven. So I'm not sure how it compares to the competition really. I'm pleased with the ride quality, especially coming from my 2015 Fiesta ST :lol: . Not as light and agile, but handles well enough for my taste. I'd like for it to have a little more power, especially at low speeds, as I'm spoiled from how much quicker my Fiesta ST was. Still a great driving experience in my opinion. I'd also prefer a flat cargo area and a little more backseat legroom.
I've got to disclaim that I work for Ford, so I only had intentions on buying a Ford and didn't do any shopping around or comparisons with other competitive vehicles. I knew I wanted plug-in vehicle, so my 3 options were FFE, C-MAX Energi, or Fusion Energi.
I live close enough to work that I could have gotten away with any of those and still commuted 100% electric, as I can charge at work. But I preferred the simplicity of the all electric option and liked that I could still get to the vast majority of places I ever drive on it's range.
There are a few competitors with similar offerings as far as price and range, so I'm not sure how they compare as far as fit and finish, or other feature sets.
The Chevy Bolt is the clear oddball as far as 200+ range that isn't in a luxury segment. I didn't have time to spend sitting in one at this year's auto show, but I briefly had a chance to look it over. I'm not a huge fan of its styling, but it's got much more cargo room, a flat cargo area and has much faster acceleration. So it's probably what most people would opt for, depending on their brand preference and budget. Most reviews have been quite favorable so it's certainly worth your time to look into them as well.
Pictures would be great too! Anyone have a 2017 in Ruby Red?
