davideos said:
[sharing opinion]
The Fit has good performance, maybe a little better than the Focus. But the reasons I bought a Focus
1) Looks. Not a bad looking car in my opinion; and it doesn't have an odd look to it. Fit would pass the "no odd look", but to me, it isn't that attractive.
2) Full Electric. No hybrid gas engine that needs maintenance, smog checks, and gas. PHEVs also have a small battery and even more limited full electric range. Fit is in check with this requirement.
3) It could be purchased. I think the FIT is only leased.
4) The focus had thermal control. Not sure about Fit.
The Fit probably has better 2nd row room which would be a plus.
But the main reason I didn't buy a Fit was that I had not heard of it and it wasn't available
If you like the Fit, I'm not sure you should compromise, but most of us here really like our FFE!
[/sharing opinion]
I think I'm probably going to ramble way off topic. Sorry, OP!
The Fit looks good to me, though I've only even seen two in person. Maybe it's a bit low-tech on the instruments, but I still respect it for being versatile (even if it lost it's Magic Seats®).
Even the Leaf looks good to me, but that's probably because I want to feel I understand why it's shaped like a frog. It's the things like "the headlights are huge to deflect air from the mirrors and keep it quiet!" and "LED headlights are awesome!" I'm all about the little things, and appreciate the thought.
Generally I really don't care for Nissans, but I can respect the Leaf. My employer also qualifies for Nissan's VPP discount ($1,000 below Invoice) for the Leaf, so it's attractiveness came quickly.
My commute is only about 6 miles round trip, but we'll often go 10-30 miles in errands. So, full electric would be great for that. On most days, when just going around town, I really don't like having to run an ICE. Mechanically, it has to use more fuel to warm up, and holds on to the condensation it creates in the oil, muffler, and elsewhere until I can find time to get out of town and burn that off. Being able to scoot around without building up carbon deposits and junk would make me feel better. Maybe that's an abnormal thing to be preoccupied about. Maybe (perspective) EV owners aren't "normal" anyway.
Right, the Fit EV can only be leased. This isn't a concern, as I wouldn't want to buy right now, personally. I've been reading about the FFE's heated/cooled battery, and that's pretty rad. I've done a lot of reading, and I understand many Leaf owners, and perspective owners, are worried about battery failure in hot climates. If I was interested in buying, the FFE is the only one worth considering.
I don't remember if the FEV has thermal control. It definitely doesn't have heating, as many lessees are reporting up to 50% drop in reported range so far this season.
I do like the FEV, but... they're not around and dealerships are clueless. I think they're tired of ME hounding THEM to get a car. Oh, how the tables turn.
On the other hand, I'm planning on going to Ford after work to see what their best deal is. They have four FFE in stock. I drove one the other day, and I liked it, overall.
The thing that kept me away was the price. It always seemed way more expensive, and FFE isn't available for the X-Plan pricing. If I have time I'll see if I can degrees about that in a more appropriate thread.
In a poor attempt to bring this back to center - as a FEV waitlister (at least for now), I can say we're getting obsessive and twitchy. The forum is pretty much dead, except for little nagging things from those who actually have their cars. Some of us were actually tracking the car-ships from Japan to Portland/Richmond/San Diego. We actually had a guy who lives in Richmond take pictures of the cars at the port and count them before they were trucked off. He doesn't reply anymore either. I think we're all burned out.
